All about Gokaiger

So Gokaiger has finally come in to wash away the stink of Goseiger. I was going to write about the premiere as a blog entry last week but ended up not getting my review toys in time on top of being insanely busy (bought a new car!). Here is a write up of overall thoughts and some specific moments from the first two episodes...

The Opening Theme: It's OK. It's a pretty slow song, which is nice I suppose. It isn't very catchy, though. I guess it'll stick in my head at some point.

The Closing Theme: Bad. I tend to like ending theme songs more than opening songs. This series is not the case. Like those horrible Go-onger ending songs, they are trying to cram as many lyrics, or in this case names, as they can into a verse and call it a rap. No thanks. Didn't like three years ago, and I don't like it now. Moero! Super Sentai Tamashii was a great example of how you can name off shows and be classy.

Episode 1 Thoughts:

The premiere episode of Gokaiger was alright. Watching it, I couldn't help but think they were intentionally shaking things up a bit by putting the episode out of order in terms of the formula. I can't think of too many series where there is mecha before we see a ground-level fight (Kakuranger). At the same time, it did feel like any other Sentai premiere episode with some big toyetic moments (Mobirates, Gokai Belt, Gokai Gun, Gokai Saber, Gokai-oh, and......Ranger Keys), children in peril, and rushed plot points. Either way...it gives me some hope that this will be a series i'll be able to watch on a weekly basis. I'll try not to give up on the usual 24 episode mark.

Episode 1 Moments:

-The premiere is kicked off with an enormous fight scene featuring pretty much every Sentai Hero (alive and dead) fighting off the invasion of Zangyack. This scene was pretty brief and only used to serve as a plot kick-off rather than serve much in the way of entertainment.

-The big fight scene at the beginning featured Dragonranger, Red Hawk Flying, Big One, and a double attack by Ninja Red and Hurricane Red. Interesting, I guess. Would've been pretty cool if they expanded the scene with more dream scenarios. It was nice to see everyone fighting together instead of against each other (Suck it, Decade!) AND the fact that Akaranger was in charge. Works for me!

-After spotting Earth, the Gokaiger team gets into a brief skirmish against the Zangyack. The fight scene featured a varied mix of CG and plastic models. The plastic models were very slow in comparison to the speedy Gokai-oh, which made quick work of the Zangyack ships. It was nice to see some model work in space (Metal Hero foreverrrr!) but the debut of Gokai-oh was very flat.

-Money. They decide they need money. OK, I understand that they're new to Earth and need some currency, but this is like second-episode material here. Selling off a ring for a wad of cash really could've waited until next week. (Filler)

-The big fight scene. I have to say...it was cool. The gun and sword play was pretty quick and fun. Goranger Hurricane was a nice touch. The gender-bending suits are quite confusing to me, but I guess it's something to get used to. If they were going to break all the rules, why not atleast make Magiblue a darker shade?

-They decide to stay (ofcourse). It was pretty much a given that the Gokaiger team would stay. The power of curry rice.

Episode 2 Thoughts:

This episode was pretty cool. The pace was still a bit furious, but the episode accomplished a lot in terms of plot and action. Captain Marvelous is shown to be quite arrogant by letting the boy in black use the Mobirates and fight as Shinkenred, and Don Dogoier is established further as the team punching bag (good!).

This episode was presented in a more traditional storytelling. In it's element, the show works well so far. I haven't seen some of the crappy CG effects that have plagued recent shows, either. Though, there is one moment when Shinkenred is smacked into a building where I kinda groaned at the horrible effect. Oh well.

Episode 2 Moments:

-The villians have yet to make an impression on me. This isn't really a moment, more like lack of moment.

-Ranger Key stolen. Briefly...but, sheesh. That was fast. I guess anybody can use the Mobirates.

-The source of the chest of Ranger Keys is revealed. Akared. I never liked that guy...oh well. What started as a lazily created character in the 30th Anniversary movie now has some kind of purpose. Good for him. Still hate the suit.

-FINALLY! There is a gattai sequence for Gokai-oh. I liked it. The hat adjustment is pretty funny...reminds me of Magiking in a way.

-Speaking of Magiranger...

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So this has been my long winded intro blog to Gokaiger. Overall I have some high hopes for the show. There are some good and weak elements, but the good seem to shine through here. I'll try my best to make the time for the show in the next two months. After that...it should be smooth sailing *rimshot*.

Anyway.

Expect a trailer for my Mobirates [plus Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink keys] review, Ranger Key Set 01 Video, and Gokai-oh video this weekend or next. Ranger Key Set 01 will probably come out in March, April for Mobirates, and May-June for Gokai-oh. All tentative.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.

-CC