Is The Sumino Ichikawa Facelift, Innovation Gone Wrong?!
People can say that I'm against innovation or Draconian. Innovation is wonderful but it can also be mismanaged. As Toei plans to either go on hiatus or perhaps close the book on Super Sentai (I prefer to believe the hiatus, and hopefully Japan will have a population boom once the old gens like myself, inevitably leave this world) -- Super Sentai may start anew! Now, I'd like to look into the latest episode which introduces Sumino Ichikawa's new form -- acted by Kohaku Shida!
There were other alternatives that could've and SHOULD'VE been considered. IMHO the most logical step was to turn Oto Ichikawa into the new Gozyu Unicorn! Maya Imamori's DISMISSAL (instead of work suspension) felt super unfair IMHO. Instead, the "new solution" was to keep Sumiko BUT give a magical explanation after Kohaku replaced Maya. It all feels WTF as it replaces the more serious Sumino with the more mischievous Kohaku. The approach just feels way too OUT OF PLACE IMHO.
This is No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger and NOT Avatar Sentai Donbrothers. It feels out of place to have a new Sumino who carries the Haruka Kito vibes. I'd like to say that EVEN IF Toei had already planned to end Super Sentai (which may explain the Gozyuger finale feel) -- a graceful exit is always better than a cluttered mess of an exit!
As for me, I think this facelift surgery of Sumino Ichikawa/GoZyuUnicorn (now played by Kohaku Shida) may be wrong, but this is not new in the Super Sentai Series. If you may recall, Sugisaku Imagawa was replaced by Tomihisa Naruse (a.k.a. Ikko Tadano; previously played as Raita Ooishi/Yellow Owl in Choujin Sentai JetMan) as the recasted Kameo/Daimugen in Gosei Sentai DaiRanger while Megumi Hamamatsu was replaced by Misaki Sudou as the recasted Radietta Fanbelt, the self-proclaimed White Racer in Gekisou Sentai CarRanger. Unlike Maya Imamori's controversial issues, both Imagawa & Hamamatsu left due to their health concerns without any backlashes & the televiewers understood those situations unlike today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me of that detail.
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