Junko Komura's Seems To Hit The Mark With Non-Anniversaries, Misses The Mark With Anniversaries

Granted, Junko Komura is a writer for the Pretty Cure series. What I didn't realize was that she was that secondary writer for several Super Sentai series such as Engine Sentai Go-Onger (which I hate now after Gekisou Sentai Carranger ran over it), Tensou Sentai Goseiger, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger, Kamen Rider Drive, and served as a major contributor for Kamen Rider Wizard - a series I felt failed to meet its potential.

Komura herself would have three major Super Sentai involvements - Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger, Kaito Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger, and last year's Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger. I would like give my personal thoughts. If you like any of the shows I bash - I'm fine with it. If you dislike any of the shows I like (ex. Seijuu Sentai Gingaman for those who might want to say Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and maybe Choshinsei Flashman are better) then I'M STILL FINE WITH IT. Granted, my opinions should NEVER affect what you think about a show.

Beautifully pointless vs. beautifully innovative?

I remembered how I watched Zyuohger and feel not like rewatching it. I'd actually end up rewatching previous tributes such as Gokaiger for its fun value (and because Power Rangers MegaFART made it look even better), Gougou Sentai Boukenger (for all its crazy antics), and Hyajakuu Sentai Gaoranger (which felt like another reboot for Super Sentai as Mirai Sentai Timeranger felt like a finale). I even felt that Zenkaiger also failed to meet its potential in spite of trying to redefine Super Sentai with an unorthodox team. The concept was good but I felt that the series just didn't meet its potential. I felt too many stuff like super early arrival of Bandai merchandise just didn't me enough time to savor the new concepts. I dare say Zenkaiger has really bad pacing like introducing me to too many concepts at once. In Research & Development - it's trying to do too much innovation at once that quality control becomes close to impossible.

So, there was Zyuohger which I almost wanted to dub as the Megafail of Super Sentai. Okay, it's still got a plot and Genis is nowhere near the idiotic shuffling that Megafail did with two totally unrelated shows. However, it's very easy to get distracted by the presence of Miki Yanagi and Haruka Tateishi since they look better than Ciara Hanna and Christina Marie Masterson. I confess I watched it for eye candy. I found myself in a brain-numbing situation more often than not. It's not like how I could enjoy Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters even if I never found Yoko (Arisa Koyama) attractive. I also can enjoy Timeranger even if Yuuri (Mika Katsumura) is only SLIGHTLY more attractive than Jen (Erin Cahill). Timeranger and Go-Busters (both under Yasuko Kobayashi's handwriting) have a deep plot that will get me focused and not having eye candy can be helpful. Everything was just so-so to me while interesting lore of the Zyumen was introduced. I felt that Komura just didn't hit it.

Meanwhile, I felt Lupinranger vs. Patranger was both beautiful and innovative at the same time. Both Tsukasa (Kazusa Okuyama) and Umika (Haruka Kudo) both acted on the opposite side of the spectrum. Both had their looks AND acting abilities. Both girls made the Megafail girls become forgettable yet again. I felt the concept of two teams clashing yet joining forces when necessary was really good. I'm just disappointed how the series suffered from lower toy sales. I actually blame the possible surplus of toys from Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger. The series was pretty good though the ending was sort of weird. I felt that both sides should've had a grand finale to defeat Dogriano. The ending just showed that both sides will consistently remain rivals to one another. 

How I felt Zenkaiger just missed the mark IMHO

If you like Zenkaiger then I'm fine. However, I found myself not liking the show based on execution. I enjoyed how the series tried to do something new such as the four other rangers are all robots. It's a nice throwback to the long-canceled but not forgotten Metal Hero franchise. Instead, Kamen Rider feels like it became the new Metal Hero as the new riders have metallic armor. Though, I criticized it for the overly early appearances of Stacey and Zox started to add more toys too early. Takamachi was launched in the 14th episode due to the Legacy Virus hiatus. You can tell by this post that I really lost enthusiasm with episode reviews! 

I decided to do some binge-watching after things were more or less better. However, I felt that Zenkaiger didn't know what to do (yet) with its atypical formula. I think the writers and producers still have no idea yet what they wanted. I felt that the robotic members weren't as interesting as Walter and Biker in Tokkei Winspector. Maybe, I'm too used to how Ryoma in Winspector has had more charm as the main hero than Kaito ever can be as Zenkaiser. I feel most Toei Ltd. acting these days seem to be "lacking" in some way. I even did some criticism towards Samurai Sentai Shinkenger early on when I said Rin Takanashi's acting ability is just similar to Amy Jo Johnson - gets the job done but doesn't stand out either. I even remembered how I said Mako doesn't stand out over other pinks such as Rin from Gosei Sentai Dairanger or Momoko from Hikari Sentai Maskman. Instead, I felt Mako was more of a Kimberly than anything else! I even remembered saying Tori Matsuzaka's ability as a red ranger is comparable to Kotaro Tanaka in Chojin Sentai Jetman and finding it weird that Kazunori Inaba (the original red ranger Takeru) got overshadowed. I felt most Super Sentai acting performances post-2000 don't stand out too much. Even the action scenes make the wounds look too minimal and the action scenes are almost near to TV-Y7-FV levels. 

I felt the show also didn't know what to do with Joji Nakata's voice acting. I felt Nakata's voice acting in Kamen Rider Gaim as Inves was better done. Here? Bokkowaus feels more like a childish bad boss like Emperor Ragorn was in Kosoku Sentai Turboranger. I didn't even feel the final battle with Bokkowaus was anything to write about. The final episode tried to be an epilogue where some deity tested Kaito's resolve. I felt the ending was trying to imitate the epilogue of Kamen Rider Kuuga. For all the good Kuuga has - I felt the final episode was kinda out of place though it was a daring experiment. Though, Kuuga did well to wrap things up in a non-battle-type final episode. Here, I felt that while there was potential, it just felt blank for me. The target was missed.

Pretty much, I think Komura usually does better when she's NOT writing an anniversary. She's had many good episodes. It seems that Komura just doesn't do anniversaries as well as non-anniversaries.