Jyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: First Impressions

Kyoryuger is based on Dinosaurs. That's right! Another Dinosaur theme for a Sentai. I was very skeptical when I learned about it. I thought to myself "What possible twist could this new serie bring that will make it stand up above its predecessors?". As the weeks passed by, I thought to myself "Hey, but this new serie doesn't bring anything new to the theme. All it does is give the heroes a mixture of past characters' personalities and throw it back to us." I'm reduced to really be excited on a couple of elements (and that's hardly the plot!)

1) Songs: I really dig them. I really love the ending song sequence (I think this is the first time up to this day that heroes and villains dance to the ending song). The opening and ending songs don't bring the feeling of a Brazilian reference (Carrangers' ending song had more rhythm and heard as a samba than kyoryugers'). Not one of my faves but still dig them. The opening sequence is attractive. I really like the kanjis displayed in the back of the character, am really intrigued by what their meaning is. Note: The only time I feel the Brazilian reference is when the song for the transformation and the combination of the mecha play.
2) The suits and colors: The suits are meh, I dislike the mouthpiece in the helmet (we have yet to have a helmet w/o a mouthpiece at least according to my knowledge imo). I really like that one of the primary colors are not present at all (it only happened a couple of times before.) This is something that makes it stand out from their predeccessors in the franchise (from Go-Busters going backwards), now the reason for the decision...that's another story (silly excuse if you ask me :D).
3) The Headquarters (villains and heroes alike). Nothing that we haven't seen in the immediate predeccessors (Zyuranger and Abaranger). Villains' outside reminds me of Dezumozorya real body (shown in episode 48) while the inside is quite unique. The face emotions (sad, angry, happy) in the walls is what surprised me while watching the premiere. The color of the walls (pink) is another thing that I didn't expect of seeing in a villains' lair. Heroes' is a complete disappointement. Their hq is basically Zyurangers' and Abarangers' merged. I was more excited to see the villains' hq than the heroes'. Did Toei's Department responsible for creating the hq run out of ideas for the heroes' hq?
4) Villains: They're an interested group. They are based on emotions and as such, the monsters are influenced by the particular feeling of the General. I.E. if the General is the Whining One, the monster will be Sad/Whine over stuff. I find this to be very impressive, unique. The way of the monster growing is a variation of the Abarangers, but I'm ok with it because the 'girls' of the group are the one doing the job. At least, the girls don't seem to be like Bokbak and Totpat who were there but didn't do anything aside from cheering for Gryfforzer and Lami most of the time. Also, the fact they seem to be collecting energy/life force from the victims is something I'm sure I watched it in another serie but I can't remember where. Either way, I really like the concept. I really love that this concept shows it's not perfect (as seen in episode 05). Looking forward to see what their next plan turns out to be like.
5) Allies: Torin is the one who assemble the heroes, tells them everything about the mechas. There's nothing more to him. I really don't know what to think of him, I hope he becomes more involved in the battles as the serie progresses (the rumor of him being KyoryuGold coming true). Otherwise, he's gonna be a tasteless character. I'm torn on the suit. It reminds me of Gekkou of Illusion (the tori boss in Boukenger *he was part of the Negative Sindicate*) but with a human height. I like the human height part but not very keen on the suit.
On the family members/friends: nothing outstanding to say about them, I would have wait a bit to introduce all of them. I mean, within 4 eps aired, we met: Red's and Green's dads, Blue's sister and niece and Black's best friend. WTF?! Why have this rush? Having met so many allies in a short span of time felt the producers/writers are trying too hard to appeal to the audience. Isn't it good to wait idk up to ep 10 to introduce Green's dad (have met Red's and Blue's family in the first 2 episodes)?
Gentle: I despise him. He only worries over trivial stuff (Amy using a mostly female version of the personal pronoun "watashi"). For God's sake! Jiiya (Jetman's butler for White Swan/Kaori) was a better ally. Jiiya, when he was around Kaori and she was with her teammates, didn't corrected because she mispronounced a word. Jiiya helped Kaori with her duties as a hero (even when said duties required to dispose of the family fortune!) Jii (Shinkenger) was a better ally. Jii reprimended the Shinkengers when they did something wrong. Jii helped the team by delivering a weapon. Jii helped the team by advicing ShinkenGold to don't put his life in danger more than he needed to do. Gosh! Even the kurokos were better allies. A kuroko reminding ShinkenBlue of his very words when he didn't know what to do. Either a) he starts acting like a real ally in his next appearance or b) he better do not appear again. The series do not need a so-called ally who thinks he acts like a bad ass because a character don't speak properly the language and needs to be humilliated in front of other people for it.
6) Heroes: They're completely tasteless. I think the actors are trying too hard to impress the audience, something I don't like at all. There was only 2 things that I was hoping it would have been a good thing for these bunch of characters. A) They immediately don't know who each other was. This treat ended in episode 4...I was hoping it would have lasted within the first 10 episodes top. and B) Pink being a Princess and a Hero, having to hide from her butler her alter ego. This lasted only 2 eps--I'd have loved if for the entire of the serie she hid it...It would have been a cool twist over the other series which featured Butlers as Allies (Shinkenger and Jetman up to my knowledge). I really wanted to see a treat of "Nazotoki wa dinner no ato de" in sentai (the hero is a heiress who hides her true identity from the people she's close to--in this case being the butler.) *Note: In Nazotoki, the main character hides her true identity from her boss, a detective in the Police Force. Her butler helps her to solve the case she has been investigating as a cop.
7) Transformation: I really like the transformation sequence. The little dance proves it can be useful (it's not only for the pre-henshin sequence). The cgi is superb. I really ♥ the way the entire suit appears on the heroes. It's as if the heroes where eaten by the cgi dinosaurs. Neat :D
8) Weapons and mechas: I really like the gun design because it's completely different from what we've seen in a) Sentai and b) Kamen Rider Decade (with DiEnd). The personal weapons are ok, not really impressive. I am impressed by what the heroes have to do for their personal weapons to show up (I think it's the first sentai which do that). When I watched the mechas for the 1st time, I said "They look awful!" (aesthetically speaking) but as weeks passed by, I started to analyze the mechas design with the batteries and found out it made sense. I still don't like their design but everyone says "It's difficult to adapt yourself to a change". And the mechas are a change in Sentai (aside from the choices of Dino being used.) I also like the fact the show seems to go beyond and brings more Dino into the show (something I really applaud).
9) Plot: I sincerely don't care for the overall plot because to me it's a mixture of Zyuranger and Abaranger. If I wanna watch a serie where the dinosaurs are shown in the headquarters and rest in different parts of the world, I watch Zyuranger. If I wanna watch a serie where the dinosaurs team up with humans to fight for a common enemy, I watch Abaranger. For the episodes plot, one of them was boring (episode 2 with Blue's focus and Pink shining). Other spark lasted only a couple of secs (episode 3 with Dyna Black showing off he can still kick ass no matter his age). Premiere was mediocre (only good part was the first scene of the villains and the first transformation sequence). Episode 4 bringing up a mystery. Yep! I really think the episode makes you think about one of the Generals' true id. At least, I've been spending a whole week wondering if Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger will pull out a Barizorg later on. And finally, episode 5 was funny near the end.

To sum up this post, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger has only 4 interesting elements to me which makes me to keep watching: Opening and Ending Song with their respective sequences, Villains, Transformation sequence and finally, the Cameos of Past Actors such as Ian's best friend (Go-On Black), Green's dad (Goggle Black/Dyna Black), Blue's sister (Deka Yellow).