Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Super Sentai: The Underrated and The Overrated

Okay, so Sean made up his list on who's overrated, who's underrated. Me? I think I'll just wrap mine in one post. Remember, this is all just opinion, you may think VERY differently. And these are all just gathering from my experience. To note: This doesn't mean about things I hate or love... it's just... well, you know!

Without further ado... let's go with...

Overrated Female

1. Peggy Matsuyama

Okay, I've got to give her credit that she is the first female ranger EVER. But still, the amount of attention she got seems kind of overwhelming. She may be a starter, but her style has been perfected by many, and yet when it comes to 'favorite old skool Sentai ladies', she tops.

2. Mika Koizumi

One, she's from Bioman (which I think is a very highly rated, near overrated in Philippines and many other countries), two, she has some intense fighting scenes, thus hailed as Badass, three... she bites the dust quicker, in the most tear-jerking way possible. But when you have Jun being completely tossed aside in favor of Mika even when the latter was less-involved... Perhaps I'll have to agree with Sean on this one.

3. Sara (Tokimura)

Yes, I realize she suddenly got overly popular and the one thing that stands out in Flashman. But while she does have some unique trait, I'd say she's pretty normal like the rest of the female Sentais, no more or no less than Lou. Maybe her sudden attention shower she got near the end of Flashman (and even be the one to shut Lee Keflen up instead of Jin) got her points. Plus she parades around showing her legs or her chest (not any of her boobs, though) gives the big fanservice factor. She's a good character and smart too, but I just find more smart characters in her vein underrated...

4. Remi Hoshikawa

She tends to get the awesome fight scenes and such, but most people overrate her merely on the spot of her drunken fist episode. Me? Saw it, nothing special. That alone wouldn't be enough to cement my favoritism on Remi, I'd have to dig more than that. But apparently, if there's one thing people talk about her, it's her Drunken Fist episode (I like the skirt-flip episode better though... Now stop looking at me like that!). This makes me view her overrated, if only because people were too quick to judge her since the early episodes.

5. Ako Hayasaka
Okay, Sean calls her underrated, but I say for the underrated-ness... she's overrated. Why? Because she pretty much overshadows Kaori, who by herself is quite underrated. I'm not saying that Ako is a bland character, she got her moments, but even Kaori got her and she got less attention. Maybe because she hooks up with Ryuu and Ako only gets teases with the overly popular Gai? Who knows.

6. Tsuruhime

I will agree with Sean that she is the first female leader, and she gets quite the focus in Kakuranger. Still, like Peggy, she just... codifies. There was nothing else that stands out, Sasuke is shown to be more active and technically is the most powerful, yet he gets mostly overshadowed by Tsuruhime. I don't hate her, no. Still, I think the movement to make her the first female leader, even by technicality, just worked too good.

7. Yuuri
I'd say Yuuri is one of the more overrated rangers... and this is not after taking account to PR Time Force and Jen! Reason? She is the first female ranger to be a full blown Tsundere archetype, which is a pretty popular archetype in the media. I know she has her reasons to be like the one she is right now, but the Tsundere factor really ups her fandom. Add that with the successor of Tsuruhime in terms of female leaders, and there you have it.

8. Nanami Nono
Two words: Nao Nagasawa. I have nothing against her, I think she's portraying Nanami well (in the few Hurricaneger episodes I did), and Nanami is a pretty good character. But several people that I know that likes Nanami mostly credits to how hot she is, etc. This is why she is in that 'Commonly Acknowledged As Hot Sentai Ladies of the Decade'. She's great, an okay character... but the fandom seems a bit too big on her compared to the rest of the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers...

9. Jasmine/Marika Reimon
Okay let's get this straight that I still like Jasmine, she's still my top female Yellow warriors. But she constantly tops favorite-type polls, is generally overly loved so much she overshadows Umeko. Maybe it's because Dekaranger is the first subbed Sentai series? Can't blame her character to be rather interesting, and her actress (Ayumi Kinoshita) to be that hot. But for a favorite of mine, she sure got her stuffs from high overrating.

10. Luka Millfy

Yep, Gokaiger is just out for a few eps, and most people are all heels for Luka, and I think the recent episode 6 just ups her fans with her maid outfit. Well I don't blame her for something, that episode shows she's a rather interesting fellow and I want to know how her gold-digging style got to her. But still, I kinda think she pretty much overshadows Ahim... and I dunno why.

Now before I go to the next parts, there's some things I'd like to say... Especially in regards of two near-obvious things I missed...

"What about Mako/Kotoha? Or Sakura??"

My answer is... they're NEITHER overrated, nor underrated. Sean may say Mako's overrated, but I've seen the same amount of rabid Kotoha fanboys (who's in for her moe-blob tendencies), so I guess that balances it out. Sakura herself is also balanced with Natsuki fanboys, which I say do balance out.

Now with that outta the way, let's go with the boys.

Overrated Male

1. Banba Soukichi

He's not the red ranger (but instead took leadership), but he becomes so popular he's the series mascot. I can see why though, his introduction is a saving throw to JAKQ which was plummeting due to an overly dark theme, and while it doesn't completely save it from cancellation, it stretches the series further. Plus, it's Hiroshi Miyauchi playing him. His persona and character himself, from the look of it, is a combo of style and badassery which does help, but he's got that overration quite. Funny that he didn't steal the leadership from Akaranger in the Legends War...

2. Takeru

Takeru, as much as I like him, started one trend that would be symbolize overration: Red Ranger gets too much focuses. This is quite blatant in Maskman, that for the Iyal plotline to move on, they just need Takeru. He does balance it out with some occasional humors on himself (especially THAT time travel episode), but this was also quite the cause of the imbalance of attention given to many characters. Although this doesn't exclude...

3. Akira

Yes, Maskman is the first series in this post to have two overrated (same sex at that!) characters. And mind you, I like Akira as well, he's a funny guy. Still, why did I say he's overrated? Outside all the Maskmen aside of Takeru, he's the only guy to get the subplot unique to himself only (Unas). This, combined with the fact he's the youngest guy, makes him be talked about a lot, leading to a rather overration. Not as severe as Takeru, maybe, but still...

4. Yuusuke Amamiya
(Yes I'm using his younger self picture. Don't ask.)

I think most of the people looked at Yuusuke thanks to Gaoranger vs Super Sentai and think of him highly from there... but I am wondering how many people rate Yuusuke for what he is in Liveman? Yes, he doesn't get disproportionate attention like Takeru, he's just as normal as Jou and Megumi went, but I think somewhat people make him more special than he is. And strangely, this doesn't seem to affect the other alumnus appearing in Gaoranger vs Super Sentai (Miku, Gouki and Daimon). I do wonder this sometimes...

5. Gai Yuuki

Take Mika, flip her gender, make her last through the entire season (but still dead by the end of it) and you get Gai. But it was this kind of characterization that makes Gai really popular. He's a jackass, the least likely guy you'd expect to be a ranger, but he pulls through and becomes a force of good by the end, showing a great case of development. Though like the case of Tsuruhime, I'd say the process of showing that proves TOO effective...

6. Burai
Okay, here it is. The big one (pun not intended). Burai is often cited as "The reason why Zyuranger is not teh suck". I mean it does make sense because his episodes has less stuffs about the 'Child of the Week' syndrome, and Burai has an intriguing story on his own. But he and the Dragon Caesar are not as invincible as people claimed him to be (there's one episode when even Dragon Caesar fails to destroy a Dora Monster and had to resort to Mei, of all people, to destroy it). Ontop of that, his Power Rangers counterpart is Tommy Oliver, the most popular of all Power Rangers. So it's like people credit Burai great because of nostalgia with Tommy, not who Burai is for himself. Of course I may be wrong on that one, but still... you also gotta remember why Burai survived longer than he did: Fan outcry. Yes, he was planned to be killed shortly after his summoning of Dragon Caesar, but the fans liked him enough that he stuck. Even so, Burai is still one of the more overrated rangers.

7. Mikoto Nakadai

I know he's unique for being an evil ranger in get go, and he's overpowered. And he's a complete asshole. But these are the reasons why people rate him so highly, he's an unique design. And hey, when his Burstosaur is voiced by the most famous seiyuu amongst the cast (Hikaru Midorikawa), it's bound to have that. But even Mikoto himself isn't totally invincible, as he's also suspectible of mishaps like that time he got sucked into Voffa's (or Mikela's, forgot which one) book. So... yeah, he's not that completely invincible... even with the Dezumoroya part in him.

8. Takeru Shiba

I'd say this is not more the fault of Takeru's character himself, but on how big the Shinkenger-craze was. He hits many things on spot: badass, stoic, nice underneath, at first quite the loner... which caused a big outrage when Kaoru was introduced (and it wasn't until Kaoru firmly established that she's nice that the outrage died down). But he's also mildly hit with the previous Takeru's problem: Overloaded with attention by plot, but with character like that, I knew he'd just attract fans like that. However, I wouldn't blame it on the characterization, he's actually pretty cool, just that his fandom just... err...

Okay enough with the overration, let's move on to underration!

Underrated Female

1. Karen Mizuki

It's true that she was a junior compared to Peggy. But I think she's quite overwhelmed with Peggy's seniority and the fact that she's in the same team with Big One. I haven't watched JAKQ, to be honest, but for one who introduced a canonical romance to Super Sentai... she really didn't get enough credits.

2. Miki Momozono

In fact I'd say Goggle Five is completely underrated. If you look at the polls in the nearby blogs, you can always guarantee that Goggle Five and its characters always hit last place. But enough about that for now, I suppose while Miki herself is the one most known in Goggle Five, in the general picture, she remained so underrated because Goggle Five is either unknown, or suffers due to bad publication in Brazil. As I said myself, she's awesome, smart, revives the trend that female warriors can still WORK... And yes, I do enjoy focus episodes that features her. Just that she just seemed virtually uncared in general... *sigh* Okay I'll stop ranting.

3. Rei Tachibana

Rei is pretty much toe-to-toe with Miki in terms of underration. She's the first attempt to show that girls aren't that defenseless (she's a hard-ass Fencer!) and in the same time is pretty cute and great. However, one thing that I felt bugged out was that... Sayoko Hagiwara's voice seemed a bit too deep for Rei (which makes her role as Ley Nefel felt a bit more natural I think), but it's still overall an enjoyable performance, underrated too. And maybe because Dynaman comes before Bioman and didn't touch much about stories that Rei also falls on underration.

4. Sayaka Nagisa

If anyone think of a smart girl in an old school Sentai, they go for Sara. Me? I'd think of Sayaka instead. She's out and out described as the 'brain' and she does prove it well enough at times. Her voice might be a little high pitched, but I can live with that. Changeman itself is claimed to be the turning point of Sentai, but from the look of it, more people see the turning point to be at either Bioman or Maskman, so I think the problem is that Sayaka is in a Sentai series not really noticed in overall (it IS successful in Brazil I think. CMIIW).

5. Momoko

If anyone suffers from the overly abundant attention given to Takeru and Akira, that'd be Momoko. She does have focus episodes here and there, but not as much as Haruka, making her a little less characterized or having good enough background and all. I do realize she's popular amongst the people because... well, her actress' hot. But I just think they could've squeezed out more characterization on her... and this is why I said she's underrated, as in... the STORY underrates her.

6. Haruna Morikawa

Well of course she's not bashed here and there, but for a heroine, she seemed to be cited less interesting than Kirika. But then again, same thing could be said to all Turborangers, they weren't cited that much unique and the unique things come from Yamimaru and Kirika (and even Riki is cited 'unique' just because his battle prowess rather than his character). I think Haruna had a lot of potential, she's a nice girl, great for acting, and her other characteristics could've been expanded further, such as her relations with Riki, or her love with animals or her technically pacifistic stance (which caused trouble ONLY AT THE END).

7. Kazumi Hoshikawa
Kazumi mostly got underrated because of the reasons I stated for Remi. When you get past Remi's action scenes and drunken fist, Kazumi isn't that bad, she actually balances out as being the brainy girl... and coming up with good plans as well, such as that episode when Gaku died. I don't have big opinions on her, but she really looked overshadowed by Remi and her action scenes.

8. Kaori Rokumeikan

Likewise on Kazumi above, Kaori is pretty much overshadowed by Ako. I dunno, but most of the time, Kaori also gets some awesome moments, like when she actually uses her rich status to snap Ako out of a berserker rage. It's also quite interesting seeing her being the subject of the love triangle between her, Ryuu and Gai, and Ryuu's pinning on Rie which ticked her off. It's quite dramatic and I say it also gives out the tension and entertainment in watching Jetman. Yes, Ako is the lovable sporty girl, but Kaori is also the lovable rich girl, I'd say.

9. Mei
(I had to change the picture, because the previous one is so moe it's killing me)

I've heard some people bashing Zyuranger characters to be bland and liked only for MMPR nostalgia. I don't think so. Each Zyurangers got their own things, and for this one, I'd say Mei really held her own. Maybe that overly high pitched voice turned you off, but not me, it makes her the sweeter. Aside of the lot of Zyuranger hater and Dairanger fanboys, which tends to claim Lin better than Mei (insert number here) times (I don't think so personally), I just say that Mei's underration comes from the fact that she's on the same team with Burai, and while she has a lot of plot ideas given to her, it wasn't used much, in favor of Burai. So call me in the minority here, but I'd say Mei is not overrated, and I like her better than Lin (Don't get me wrong, I like Lin too, but Mei just ranks higher.)

10. Saya

I think I remember Fantasy Leader saying that Saya is very comparable to Liveman's Megumi. But I think she just... gets less attention. As much as Gingaman appearing in Gaoranger vs Super Sentai, it is kind of an underrated one, it's not talked much. Maybe it's because PR Lost Galaxy overshadows it? I only watched Gingaman a little, and even haven't gotten to Saya's focus ep, but I get the feel that she'd be interesting... but she tends to get some forgettable treatments over here. Dunno why...

11. Ran Uzaki
She's a good female characters actually, but I think the reason why she's underrated was because while she's picked as a leader, the show didn't use that thing much and instead focuses more on Jan. Or Rio. Or Mele, who's often considered the better 'babe' of Gekiranger. Hey, you know I like Mele too, but Ran isn't that bad actually. Overshadowed is more like it.

12. Kaoru Shiba
Okay as I said in the Takeru entry, Kaoru got a lot of flaks when she debuts and even worse, she just quickly becomes inactive once her arc is done. There's so much potential for Kaoru, but not really used well. She just... interacts mostly with Takeru or the annoying retainer Tanba. And as said, she was often thought as a spoiled brat when she's actually a nice girl. It is a unique concept to have a female red ranger, just too bad that her entrance had to be mirred with rabid Takeru fanboys decrying her.

13. Eri

Haven't gotten far on Goseiger, and... yeah, I think reception over here for Goseiger is pretty bad... Still for the little I see of it, Eri seemed refreshing and great. She's cute, ditzy, but not over when compared with Alata. I wouldn't judge Goseiger as bland as many people here does, but overall I think Eri got a lot of potential. The reason why I think she's underrated was... well as I constantly said, Goseiger is often slapped with 'Bland Sentai' label thus Eri might be in danger of being slapped with such label too.

14. Ahim de Famille

And with the above stuff and I've said it earlier, I'm seeing more Luka fans that Ahim fans. I think she's pretty unique. True, her character is typical for Sentai characters, wanting to help people, good hearted, etc... but this is so atypical for Gokaigers, who were more of anti heroes who only look out for themselves. Plus she's cute. Maybe there are more who saw Ahim more of being the typical 'Pink' or 'Girly', but I think it's her charm. Won't blame on the Luka fandom, though.

Underrated Male

1. Kanpei Kuroda

Like above, Goggle Five seemed like super unknown, but for what it lacks in story development, it makes up for fight scenes and stunts... and the one to provide that is usually Kanpei. I liked how many times he tricked the enemies and having skills that provide that (such as the Black Shadow), it makes the fight much more innovative. There's a reason why Goggle Five is considered not too goofy, and that reason is him mainly (and I've got more reasons to call it NOT goofy). But like usual, he's nearly unknown because his series weren't really that known, or suffers bad publication.

2. Ryuu Hoshikawa

Take Kanpei (and his actor too), give him more humorous personality, ninja skills and you pretty much got Ryuu. Aand just like Rei, he wasn't that much mentioned because he's from an older series that hadn't really gotten the attention. For what he is and considering the show he's in, Ryuu is pretty awesome and one of the biggest factors why Dynaman can be entertaining. But... again, publication problems get in the way.

3. Ryuu Tendou
Another Ryuu! And yeah, as before, Ryuu gets to be underrated because he's not Gai, he's a clean-cut hero who drinks milk. But hey, for what he is, he still got his Hero thing well done and not really that boring since he got other things plaguing him (such as Rie), it makes him more interesting. Of course Gai kinda upstages him in the general things, but by himself, Ryuu is awesome. Because he also drinks milk. You know who else drinks milk?

...

...




Okay, enough of that guy's jokes, let's move on.

4. Gou Fukami
Gou may be a bit popular amongst the crowd, but like usual the Gekiranger fandom seem to go to Rio and Mele. And the plot wasn't even kind to him. Hyped to be Rio's rival, is a lone wolf etcetera... then Rio continuously own him, only for Jan to beat him. Then Long appears, he's also second fiddle for the main trio. Gou has got quite the potential but for some reason he just seem kinda underused by the show...

5. Ryuunosuke Ikenami

Okay bear with me. Ryuunosuke is a pretty popular blue warrior, but remember, his hyperactive attitude could get on the nerves on many people, especially in the early episodes (strangely this doesn't affect Genta much). Not only that, he suffers the most in terms of pairing, they got Mako to Takeru, and Kotoha to Chiaki. He's actually a pretty competent ranger despite being saddled for comic relief a lot, and he's a unique case about when the hero is super serious, the rival is a hyperactive happy hammy dude. Still his hyperactiveness tends to draw people away... for reasons unknown.

And that'd be all for the Overrated and Underrated characters from Super Sentai. Hope you had a good reading! Credits to Doug Walker/Nostalgia Critic for the awesome Chuck Norris joke (in particular the Sidekicks review).

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Thoughts on Choushinsei Flashman

I just finished Flashman. As I talked with Fantasy Leader a lot, I realized that he just LOVES this series very much. So now I'm gonna talk about it. I'll not say the good the bad or the ugly, I'll just state my opinion.


Overall, the fight scenes are pretty intense and that's a good thing. But one thing that kinda irked me is the special effects. I dunno but is it just me or since Changeman's latter episodes until the end of Flashman, special effects just felt rather choppy? For instance, whenever Blue Flash uses the Prism Ball, the screen usually goes like it's generated from old-school computer rather than captured with camera itself? This problem seems to go away once Maskman airs, but it could be rather jarring for Flashman. But aside of that, I like the fight scenes. It helps that for the battle music, they give AWESOME instruments, sometimes even more intense than 'insert Flashman theme here'.

As for the characters, I'd say they give out quite OK. Jin does both the 'leader' and 'big brother' type, which is pretty good. And then there's the sometimes-rash but well meaning Dai, and also the young, bright Bun. I do agree when I said it's harder to pinpoint who's the tomboy or who's the girly one between Sara and Lou. Also by watching, I understand why Sara is popular, aside of her bits in the final times which I will talk later: She practically walks around in a skirt that pretty much shows off her legs, giving opportunities for panty shots. And her Flash Star outfit does show off quite on her chest (but not to the level of her boobs). So yeah...

Villains had quite the dynamic here; Lee Keflen and Sir Cowler constantly compete for 'competence' in the eyes of Ra Deus. Though I think Lee Keflen's reveal as a captured human could be revealed further. Also pretty cool that Ley Wanda and Ley Nefel takes active roles in battle and even their Scary Beast Transformation lives up to the 'Scary' part, gaining deadly skills like Time Stop or Illusion view.

There's one thing that kind of stand out, be it good or bad. Sara seems to take the main character spotlight from Jin in the very ends of the story, about the eventual build up that she's Tokimura's daughter, from being captured by Cowler to being brought to her old house. To top it all off, when they confront Lee Keflen for the last time, rather than Jin rebuking his persuasion, it's Sara who tells him off by shooting off his synthesizer. I dunno if people see it as awesome or the cream of the crop of Sara's character, giving her tons of fans. But once all is done, it got me wondering, "Maybe Sara should've been Red Flash instead..."

It's not my favorite, but I would say it's a solid season overall. And I was right that I picked Dai as one of my fave greens... he's awesome.

Maybe I'll talk about other seasons next time. Probably old school ones, because there's been so many who gives thoughts for the newer seasons. Later!

Unpopular Opinions That I Have In Sentai

Okay, right now I'm gonna spill out some of the things I thought about Sentai. You may not like it very much with what I'm gonna say, but then again you may say I'm just not going over the popular opinion. Here we go.

1. Goggle V is really an underrated Sentai
Yes, you would see this coming, because I grew up in Indonesia, where Goggle V was pretty big, the essential Sentai of Indonesia. Most people would either ignore or underrate it due to the failed attempt at Brazil (more like due to bad scheduling, I mean airing after showing Sentai shows that has gotten a firm hold in storytelling? No, not just a bad idea... EPIC FAIL!) or that it's old. So much that in Henshin Grid's poll, most (if not all) Goggle V characters receive the lowest scores. Wow... was it really THAT bad in terms of underration? But for it's age, even with its flaws, it was still a pretty good show with quite the cast, you need to remember the focus was more about how the fights get carried out rather than how the plot goes, characters may stay static and unchanging, but hey, that's what happens in the old school ones.

I haven't seen any Sentai before Goggle V, but Fantasy Leader said that it was starting with Goggle V that the characters started to get colorful, so I really dunno how to rate that, but if it's true, then bless you, FL. And after seeing a good chunk of Dynaman, I kinda agree that the fight scenes in Goggle V are more intense and sometimes variative than Dynaman (no offense, Dynaman fans! I still like it for what it is). You should really check it out, forget about that failed attempt if you're from Brazil just treat it as some new old-school Sentai you never watched and you should feel more home. Oh, and Miki is awesome.

I really need to up my ante of promoting it...

2. Zyuranger holds on its own, and it's not Geki/Burai that's 'the only awesome thing of Zyuranger'.
Many decried that Zyuranger is a weak season, and hell I know it's pretty plagued with the 'Kid of the Week' syndrome. But I have to admit that it's not always 'Kid of The Week' even when it's not about Geki/Burai. Or when it's about MMPR nostalgia. Me, I always have a soft spot and Mei and what do you know, I find episodes featuring her entertaining, perhaps equal to the Geki/Burai episodes. Plus as said in Valsag Fantasy's blog, sometimes the 'Kid of the Week' isn't really that irritating. So yeah, I would say that Zyuranger is a pretty good show, if flawed, and should not be disliked due to the 'flaws', or overly liked merely for 'MMPR Nostalgia'.


3. I like Ahim better than Luca
Okay, in Gokaiger, everyone is crazy at Luca. I don't blame them, everyone got their tastes. That Chick, Sean, those two loved Luca. But me? I think I'm the only one who likes Ahim more. I dunno why but for some reason Luca doesn't click on me. Maybe the hair? I like long hairs on girls, maybe that's why. Plus Ahim got the 'natural cute' feel that I feel charming, and while it wasn't wholly focusing on her, I'd say her 'shared' spotlight in Episode 4 (which was about Joe), makes me like her for her sweet personality. Of course, since Gokaiger is still early, things may change, who knows what kind of stuffs Luca will do to win me over Ahim, but for now I'd say Ahim has the edge for me. And I still like Joe/Ahim better than Marvelous/Ahim for now.

That's about the opinions I had thus far which I think will really clash a lot with many people's, but I stand by my opinion and proud of it. Check this post often since my opinions tend to fluctuate so things may change, or I add up other conflicting opinions. I'll see you later.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Five Man Band: Dekaranger

All right, here we are in the first Five Man Band talk... in which we talk about... the Dekarangers


So let's get on with the breakdowns of the talk.

1. The Hero - Ban
By contrast, Ban really isn't giving out orders like he's the Leader of the group. However, he IS the Red Ranger and pretty much the team's 'fireball' and gives out inspiration to everyone. He's also the main protagonist of the series, thus he's this.

2. The Lancer - Houji
Houji is no leader, but in the same vein of Sean, yes he does have leadership qualities, as much as backfiring it was in the first try, but he has it, though he's no Kouichirou from Megaranger or Yuuri from Timeranger (where they're the technical leader). In contrast, since our Hero is Ban, Houji fits in Lancer position like a glove because of just how contrasting his personality with Ban. Indeed, they're the two that most likely would argue due to conflicting personalities. But hey, they also show great teamworks covering what they lack.

3. The Big Guy AND The Smart Guy - Sen-chan OR Jasmine
Okay, this is where I deviate from TV Tropes. Sen-chan is usually pegged as The Smart Guy due to his Thinking Pose, while Jasmine is pegged as The Big Guy because... she's a bishoujo type, the 'tougher' part of the duo with Umeko and the rest of the spots have been taken. However, let's look at the different perspective... in BATTLE, because those were really the perspective taken outside battle. When we look it at the Battle perspective, the role is reversed. Sen is the Big Guy because he held great power and when he fights, he goes straightforward pure power, remember that one episode where he kicks a chunk of rock and breaks it (or was it cutting it into two?)? On the other hand, Jasmine is instead The Smart Guy since she possesses the 'Mirage Dimension' ability which requires some creative mind and overall provides a more complex, tricky execution style, which is usually a trait for The Smart Guys.

So there we have it, up to you guys to decide which one is more Big and which one is more Smart.

4. The Chick - Umeko
Umeko is, put simply, the more emotional of the team. More emotional, however, doesn't mean to be the quiet one though, she's a different Chick because she's... well, loud and brash compared to Jasmine. But she's gotten her biggest 'Chick' credentials due to how her relationship with Sen came about, when after being tricked and nearly killed, she realized it sooner, shot her would-be killer, and broke down in tears.

5. Sixth Ranger - Tetsu (and Boss)
This is self-explanatory. Tetsu joins late, is 'different' than the rest (being that he's with the Tokkyou, and the rest are just SPD police officers). Sixth Rangers are supposed to be 'oddballs' amongst the team so he fits like a glue over there. And Boss may kind of count, but he takes more of the mentorship role...

And there we go about Dekaranger's Five Man Band formation. Tune in next time when I speak of another formation.