How Super Sentai saved ChrisX

Okay, this is just a moment of outburst that would just last for the moment, but I feel like I wanna express my gratitude to the Sentai franchise for something. Just keep reading.



As I mentioned before, I'm troubled to what transpired in BlazBlue, about my favorite lady betraying the image I had for her. True, I'm slightly getting better and trying to understand. But the world of fiction isn't as merciful. It's like 'depression is the new trend'.



I lately bought the PS3 Mortal Kombat. Good game, a throwback to classic MKs. The Story Mode on the other hand... it's kind of bittersweet to the point of depression. I won't spoil you much as this is a recent game, but I will say that they really went out to make that world (Earthrealm) a crapsack one, with something horrible happening to many heroes and fan favorites, and even the God of Thunder Raiden committing mistakes after mistakes leading up to that horrible thing. It was really depressing, I never thought that 'gory fun' suddenly gets to 'gory seriousness'. Wasn't as bad as my problem with Litchi, but MK takes a new level in depression. You need to play it.



Then comes the PSN outage. Here and there, complains about Sony piled up, especially after the reveal that personal information have been leaked, and PSN is still down for uncertain time. I know it will return back one day, and I don't use Credit Cards, but all this time the complains have been piling up and even if Sony gets back up, it'll have to deal with the loss of reputations, now that many people dislike it for being untrustworthy on the security.

So I opened this blog of mine, looked at the top picture... and then...

OH MY GOD.

HOLY SHIT.

WTFBBQ!!!!!!!!!

Gokaiger movie info, Junichi Haruta, Sayoko Hagiwara and Kenta Satou returning for the movie... NOSTALGIA, HOOO!! (Well, not so much nostalgia when it comes to Dynaman since I just finished watching it the first time, but still it gave me a good appreciation to that show) It was such a wham announcement it made me forget the troubles I'm having in other places. You can bet your ass that when those three (ESPECIALLY Junichi Haruta) appear on screen, even if he's not I'm gonna yell in excitement, like how Nostalgia Critic reacted to 'Frying The Coke'.

I'm pretty sure Sean is psyched with the presence of Ryosuke Sakamoto since I'm pretty sure he's Filipino and Bioman is pretty big in Phillipines, kinda like Goggle V in Indonesia. I'm not quite surprised with the announcement of Naoya Makoto and Hiroshi Miyauchi, though, they're like a must-appear list so it was kind of expected, Akaranger led the Legend War, plus Big One is... well, Big One. Both of them are the biggest names of old school Sentai. Yes I do realize that there's also Keiichi Wada, Mika Kikuchi and Kenji Ohba to count but it's nostalgia we're talking about for the moment.

So yeah, I'd like to thank Sentai for keeping my optimism up. While the world of videogames seem hell bent to make the stories seem pessimistic (though not closed for future improvement), Sentai always kept the optimism, getting my hopes up. Thank you Toku and Sentai!

History of ChrisX And Super Sentai

Yeah, yeah, I'm just following the leaders (That Chick and Fantasy Leader). But hey, may as well!

Well it started on when I was a little boy, about 4 years old or 5... In the ages of VHS. In Indonesia, back then, Dai Sentai Goggle V was the big thing about Sentai. I only had few episodes of them, episodes 5 to 8, then jump to 37 to 40, then jump to the last 4. But I really enjoyed it, since well it doesn't really depend on storyline, but just how kickass the action scenes were. I did miss out when the actors of Goggle V visited Indonesia, but hell... this is why I still have great memories of Goggle V.

Time passed, and before there was Power Rangers, Indonesia have been enjoying some Sentai. Aside of Goggle V we had Hikari Sentai Maskman, which was aired in TV and has dubbings. And yes, I used to own the VHS only for a few episodes (already dubbed). But by that time, there's also the mind-blowingly popular Kamen Rider Black on TV (and again, in Indonesia, we used to call him 'Ksatria Baja Hitam'/'Black Iron Knight') so I suppose I wasn't as hyped as I was to Goggle V for Maskman, because there's Kamen Rider to occupy me. But even then, I held great memories for Maskman.

Kamen Rider Black and RX got me good on Toku, and along the way, I also enjoyed partials of TV airings of Liveman, Turboranger and Flashman, but not as much as Maskman or Goggle V. There's also Kamen Rider Super-1 on the air, but at that time I became rather caught in school business and such so my liking for Toku kinda wanes. Plus, you know, video games is my main hobby.

But aside of that, around that time, there's Power Rangers. To be honest, I was really cool with it, but for some reason, I mostly concentrated on parts on the first season. It was good, but by that time I got really swamped with school.

Skip on years later.

My brother returned from Singapore... he gave me some modern Sentais like Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Mahou Sentai Magiranger and GoGo Sentai Boukenger (currently incomplete). I did like how Dekaranger turned out on the first episode, but again, I'm swamped with university business and gaming has been rather tight on me.

Then I graduated university. The year was 2008.

Years in university, plus Super Robot Wars got me quite into anime and I was thinking 'What kind of live action Japanese TV I could watch for the moment?' And after thinking, then I saw... Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, in promo. Hey, I like the concept of samurai, and I think this may be fun. So I got the first few episodes and... I'm hooked. Seriously. I watched Shinkenger from first to the end, got to see some Sentai openings to relive nostalgia and it would be around that time (I think) that I discovered a youtube account named 'Divaqueen' or something, who used to hold videos about her favorite Sentai warriors, etc, mostly image slides. It was also from her account that I saw some Sentai cutscene clips which made me want to hunt down some episodes of old school Sentai. I didn't care if it was RAW, I had to take what's given thus far. So I started with Goggle V, then moved on to other nostalgia pieces like Turboranger and Maskman, and eventually also new materials like Jetman and Zyuranger, and even my brother's given Sentai back then (Dekaranger). And yeah, that, along with Kamen Rider Decade, inspires my fic...

When I asked where Divaqueen got those images, she linked to the Super Sentai Images blog, in which it directed me to Sean's blog. And after seeing Sean's blog, I became more and more involved in Sentai business, and this blog is created.

So there we have it. It started big with Goggle V and Maskman, but education business caught me busy that it kinda waned out, even for Power Rangers... nearly revived with Dekaranger, and fully revived with Shinkenger. I hope it's been a good read.

P.S: Will add pictures later! Keep watching on this post, will ya?

Super Sentai Humorous Moment 3: Dekaranger

We now return to yet another funny moment in Super Sentai. This time, about Dekaranger... featuring Umeko/Deka Pink.

This is seen in Episode 12.

So it starts out with Umeko enjoying her bath... when in a sudden, Doggie announces a strangeness that they needed to investigate. In disappointment, Umeko got out of her bath to dress up...

Doggie Kruger was proud with how the Dekarangers were hurrying to the crime scene diligently... until Umeko arrives, her hair not yet cleaned up and there's still the bubbles and shampoo on her hair. Doggie immediately becomes angry and asks what the hell happened to her head. Before Umeko could explain, she snooze... and the bubble on her head flew over to Doggie's mouth.

Umeko's expression was completely deadpan and she puts on her hair... 'hat'... whatever onto Doggie's mouth like it's a place where you hang your clothes for being dried by the sun and entered the tunnel to enter her Deka Machine, while Doggie just stared there doing nothing. She did transform inside and apologized.

And when she arrived at her Deka Machine, she snooze so hard her Deka Machine jumped and surprising Swan on how 'energetic' she was. And that's the last straw for Doggie as he yelled "UMEKOOOO!!!!" to her tunnel and Umeko gave out a hilarious "I'm sorryyyyy!"

The rest of the episode isn't much LOL worthy, but still, Umeko's antics with Doggie Kruger in this episode always crack me up.

Sentai Character Talk 6: Mako Shiraishi/Shinken Pink

Okay we're back for another character talk. Let us talk this time about a Shinkenger, particularly Mako Shiraishi AKA Shinken Pink. Hey, if Sean can talk a lot about her, so can I (No hard feelings Sean, just that your favoritism to Mako is just so seen and acknowledgable)



This lady is Mako, descended from the Shiraishi clan, a clan in servtitude of the Shiba clan to seal the Gedoushuu, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher before the next battle with Gedoushuu began. She pretty much defines the 'big sister' archetype. Chiaki called her 'nee-san', Kotoha idolizes her so much she'd ignore one of her blatant flaws (which we'll talk about later) and even Takeru knows not to really be harsh on her. Sensible and mature, but also tough as heck, people may think she's a 'tomboyish' archetype like Yuuri of Timeranger or Sakura of Boukenger, but I'd say Mako is more of the 'nurturing, motherly type' which is pretty prevalent in the very old school Sentai shows.

Past

Mako... didn't have a good, normal past. When she's little, her mother, already crippled due to her previous battle with Gedoushuu, had to move away from home with her father, to Hawaii, leaving Mako to continue on the Shiraishi clan's samurai training from her grandma. Mako trained rigorously, even if she had to foresake her normal childhood. This was why she became a kindergarten teacher, she wanted to provide the children a good childhood that she never had.

Development

What Mako didn't know back then was that her mother's crippling was so bad she's paralyzed so she had to take medications in Hawaii, not because she's had enough of her child. This, at first, left Mako bitter about her parents a bit, but once she learned the truth, she became more respectful to them and her ending had her return to Hawaii... though probably returned just in time for Goseiger vs Shinkenger.

Aside of that, Mako was, admittedly, kind of static. She didn't improve much outside being less cold during that time she got hugged by Kotoha. She remains a good big sister figure for the Shinkengers.

In battle on the other hand, she seemed to be drawn with Usukawa Dayuu. When she got sucked into a dream world sharing with Dayuu, she ended up seeing her past and probably felt pity on her state, though Dayuu would take none of the pity. She ended up fighting her a lot and was quite sad when Dayuu sacrificed herself for Doukokuu. I think at that time Mako felt pity on Dayuu's fate and eventual death, regretting that she couldn't reach her out. But overall, they still held the same 'Girl-girl rivalry'.

Traits

If Mako lacked in development, she's already got a lot of traits to make up for it, though.

First off, her big sisterly figure means that she always had an urge to hug someone in need. Kids, adults, or even toy lanterns, if they feel depressed, she always had an urge to hug them out and comforting them. Of course, this doesn't mean she's ready for romantic commitment... as Ryuunosuke learned it the hard way. She hugged him not because she wanted to start a relationship, but she just thought his depressed self unsightly. Poor Ryuu-san didn't know that his default personality at that time was 'Annoying like hell' so it also ticked Mako off that he'd jump at her that instant. She'll cuddle as needed, not cuddle as long as she can. In other words, she values efficiency.

Being a kindergarten teacher also helps her for understanding many people's feelings. Including her teammates, she could sometimes understand how they were feeling, which led her to that one incident with Ryuunosuke (above), or how she tried comforting Kotoha when she felt lonely, topped with how she later attempts to sympathize with Takeru when he felt a bit too intense regarding his role. So it's not that she's tough and cold, she's a very understanding and nurturing lady.

But perhaps, her biggest trait is that... She's a horrid cook. And this is a frigging understatement. Takeru, the one who usually kept his cool, just freaked out at the prospect of her cooking (though less than that one haunted house). "Is that edible" indeed. And even the sight of her in an apron is just plain traumatizing for the Kurokos. She even uses her Shinkenmaru to 'murder' an onion, for Pete's sake! However, Mako is a hardworking girl, so she'd try her best to improve, although even until the end of Shinkenger, there's no progress at all... she'd try harder until she succeed. After all, her dream was to be a good wife, so cooking skill is a must. Then again, when your childhood is spent on training to be a samurai, who had the time for culinary training?

A rarely shown trait of Mako is that she seemed to have a hidden yearning for singing. Especially when that time she sang at the V-Cinema episode, it was in her dream that she becomes an idol singer. Of course, once everyone is back to the normal world, Mako would deny that she likes being an idol singer, but I'd just chalk it down that she's getting a bit flustered.

Pairings

I think I did tell about pairings of Shinkenger. Mako went along well with pretty much everyone. While initially refusing to Ryuunosuke, after that one incident, she's back to normal, professional relationship with Ryuunosuke, and if she shoves him off, it's because he's asking for it (like that one in the end of the soul-swap episode). There's also the one with Takeru, which is probably my favorite, just too bad it goes nowhere... and I think I can see rabid Kotoha fanboys glaring at me right now when I said that. Speaking of that, there's also Kotoha to consider pairing for, and I admit, Mako-Kotoha pair is a near-legendary one, up there with Jasmine-Umeko from Dekaranger. As of Chiaki, all I see is just about a sisterly respect view for Chiaki, calling her 'nee-san', probably why in Chiaki's dream in V-Cinema, Mako became the superior police for him. It's got a good start, better than Ryuunosuke even, I gotta admit. But then again, I shipped Chiaki with someone else -_-...

I dunno how much I'd value her pairing with Genta and Kaoru. Mako treats Genta the same way she treated Ryuunosuke, professionally. And she didn't get much time to interact with Kaoru.

In conclusion, that's Mako for you. She's admittedly static and just develops slightly, but she's got a lot of quirk and traits that makes her lovable. Perfect for you siscons out there. I think she helped a lot in reigniting my passion for Sentai after leaving it so long since the ages of Goggle V and Power Rangers. Of course she's not the only reason, but Mako pretty much gains my respect, and thus far, I think she's deserving her position as one of my fave ladies of Sentai...

Wait, what? YOU'RE COOKING NOW!? Oh dear, I hope my stomach is strong enough to endure. (Won't somebody please think of the poor little onions...!!)

Super Sentai Humorous Moment 2: Boukenger

Okay so we're back for another humorous moment. You can bet your ass that one day this video will get removed, but before that, let's have a look. And yes, I've watched near halfway of Boukenger and this is one of the funniest moments... no, entire episode of funny, and this is its peak.

Satoru Akashi is a disbeliever for fortunes, and what luck, for this mission to get the Dragon Eye, he gets his luck fixated to be the worst possible and we get to see all kinds of misfortunes he's rained into. Those were deadly misfortunes, but god damn it, they're too hilarious to not cringe with! Fortunately, the rest of the Boukengers tried fixing his luck by giving him fortune-increasing items.

(Video starts here) Then they approached Ryuuon and his current Jakuryuu, Talong... and Bouken Red's appearance looked SO ridiculous Talong was laughing his ass off. Even the usually sadistic bastard Ryuuon can't help but also laugh at Bouken Red's getup. While the Boukengers do their roll call reversed (Red's last), both Ryuuon and Talong were too busy laughing their asses off, because seriously, all those accessories does make Bouken Red look totally ridiculous. Intending to end this seriously, Bouken Red coughs up and declares...

Endless Bouken Spirits! Go Go Sentai Boukenger!!

And there goes the usual explosion of Super Sentai following Boukenger's entrance... Looks awesome... except that the explosion caught on Bouken Red and his teammates had to put it off. (Video ends here)

What follows is that Bouken Red managed to flip off all his misfortunes while giving off speeches of friendship and eventually beats Talong, his luck restored to normal, Talong grows big, then he gets hit with worst luck and destroyed... But the fun didn't end there. Back in SGS, Satoru still insists that he's a disbeliever of fortune telling... until Eiji pulls out a 'Good Fortune' talisman right from his back pocket, and Souta finds out that he was actually browsing about fortune websites, embarrassing the hell out of Satoru. So he secretly was a believer!

This is an episode full of funny, worth jumping the rest of the Boukenger episodes just for this episode. I will have to admit that Satoru succeeded Takeru (Maskman) in terms about 'just because you're the Red Ranger, doesn't mean you never get to be the butt end of jokes'. In fact, there's a lot of instances of Satoru getting nasty physical jokes, usually at the end of episodes, but this one takes the whole episode to showcase him being that.

Sean may disagree with me, but this is why I wouldn't be able to see Ryuuon in the same caliber as Radiguet. As much as a sadist he is, Ryuuon occasionally jumps in the humorous moments, just like this episode, or some previous episodes when the Jaryuu gets some knowledge and instead boycotted him. If it was Radiguet, I think he wouldn't laugh, but rather just move in for the kill. But maybe it's just me. Of course Ryuuon is still an SOB. Just... an SOB who knows when to provide laugh to the audience when even he gets the butt end of jokes.

I think after this you can expect some actual Boukenger posts from me.

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).

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!