Setting The Stage: Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger

A show's first few episodes are important. They set up the characters, introduce the world, and give you a rundown of the show you're about to watch. There are a ton of great first episodes in Sentai so I figured I should do a series on talking about some first episodes. Lets start this off with the first episodes of a Sentai show I adore and one thats very topical at the moment since not only is it the show's 20th anniversary, it got a movie this year. If you've spoken with me about Sentai, you've probably seen me gush about how much I adore Abaranger. I absolutely adored this show when I saw it 8 years ago and it still remains my 3rd favorite Sentai. So now, lets talk about its first two episodes. Say it with me: ABARE! ABARE! ABARE!

The show opens in one hell of a spectacular fashion. A lone warrior traveling a desert wasteland on a raptor and when the enemy base shows up and starts blasting. The opening theme kicks in right as we get this cool raptor-back fight scene with Masaki Endoh belting out "ABARE! ABARE! ABARE!" at the top of his goddamn lungs. Then he gets knocked off and the throw down gets started properly all while the opening theme keeps blasting.

Thats just the first few minutes of the episode. The rest of it is basically a 30 minute old school kaiju flick. The only thing its missing is the old spotty film grain. I'm not kidding, you've got a pretty great sequence of Tyranno, Tricera, and Ptera rampaging and just absolutely tearing Tokyo a new asshole with really damn creative shots with the CGI dino models. All of this is while they're begging anyone who can hear their voices to stop them by any means necessary until the chosen heroes hit the scene and snap them out of it. Once thats done, we get less of fight with the mooks and more of an awesome slaughter with the Abarangers just going absolutely ham during the whole damn thing. After thats all taken care of, it ends on a really damn ominous shot of another dinosaur approaching. Its one hell of a first episode for the show.

The second episode is pretty good. We get a bit of needed breathing room from the balls to the wall pace of the first episode. They meet up at the Dino Curry spot and take a breather while getting to know each other. Ryoga and Ranru are all up for kicking some alien ass and defending the planet. Yukito on the other hand is not enthused that the job doesn't pay so he walks out. That one little scene perfectly sets up the dynamic between the main 3 Abarangers. Yukito is basically the straight man for Ryouga's and Ranru's personalities. After that we get a good look at all the damage that the fight in the first ep caused. The rest of the episode is a really sweet plot about Yukito finding the need to fight by helping a kid recover a cherished race car that was a gift from a friend from the remains of some of the buildings that were destroyed in episode 1. The mecha fight is great and ends on an amazing shot of Abaren-oh plowing through an Evolian ship drill first.

And thats the first two episodes of Abaranger. Honestly they're a great start to the show and just pile on the awesomeness and high energy kickassery. The show just goes absolutely balls to the wall from the start. They're just missing the surreal stuff thats also apart of the show. These first two episodes are just the tip of the iceberg in regards to how cool Abaranger is and I can't recommend the show enough. I'm glad to see the show getting even more and more love as time goes by. Its one of my absolute favorites and these first two episodes are a solid reason why.

"Ressha sentai Toqger" or "The Shadow Line saga, featuring the Toqger"?

 

 

Hello

It's been  a while since I've posted here, notably since I stopped watching toku during a long time. However, I've been watching some again, notably Toqger. A few years ago, I have written a review in which I was VERY critical about that show http://tokuwarriors.blogspot.com/2014/12/toqger-review-and-why-that-show-sucks.html. However, even then, therewere elements I enjoyed about Toqger, and, rewatching it, I realized I have grown fond of that show. Now, I'm gonna explain why I enjoy it now. It doesn't mean that the issues I've mentioned in my previous review don't exist any more. But I think that Toqger is the kind of show that needs a rewatch to really understand it.

And the most fascinating element of that show is how much the story seems to be about Shadow Line rather than the Toqger themselves. Of course, the Toqger are the heroic characters, but sometimes, they feel more like hero antagonists who stop the Shadow Line's evil; but they mostly have the focus in fillers episodes, when the core plot episodes are much more about the Shadow Line, and when the heroes are pretty much sidelined 

The Toqger plot

Why does it happen? Because the Toqger's plot is pretty straightforward, even if it's revealed throughout the season ; they are children ended up in the Rainbow Line when their town was covered in darkness by the Shadow Line; they ended up in adult bodies and with a partial amnesia. Right/Toq1go having the additional complication of having ended up in a Shadow Line train (Kuliner) before joigning the others. Thanks to the power of Imagination, they can become Toqger and fight the Shadow Line to protect the world. Their story is also their quest to discover who they are, and to find their town and families. It's a very compelling arc. We see those children who, suddenly, have undergone a awful ordeal, and who are forced to grow up to face it; the fact they have adult bodies to fight the Shadow Line is a great metaphor. But their biggest strength is their friendship, which they still remember from their lives as kids, and which is, in my opinion, the most interesting element about them. However, they aren't the most memorable heroes in sentai. Right/ Ichigo is the hot blooded leader, Tokachii/Nigo the awkward one, Mio/Sango the nice girl, Hikari/Yongo the grumpy one, and Kagura/Gogo the cute one. Another element that harm the Toqger's story is the fact that Wagon, Ticket and the Conductor who make their support team areVERY annoying. And did they really need to give the boss of the RainbowLine this stupid bunny head?

The Shadow Line

However, the Shadow Line are undoubtedly the characters with the more interesting plots, the more diverse characterizations, and the more complex dynamics between them. The fact that the sixth Toqger Akira/Rokugo was himself a former member of the Shadow Line add an additional layer of complexity. 

Nero and Morc

Nero and Morc are the most typical "sentai villains" with their classical plot to take over the world with darkness. Moreover, Morc is also somewhat of a mother figure for Emperor Z, and the one who tried to fill the void of leadership due to Z's obsession with shining and light which distracts him from the goal of covering the world in darkness. Nero is the lieutenant who wants to serve the general who will lead the war he desires so much to fight. Besides, he's the smart one who see through the traitorous members of the Shadow Line. They're typical villlains, but they work well and their presence highlights even more the more complex members of the Shadow Line. 

 Madame Noir

Unlike Nero and Morc, who are loyal towards their emperor, even sacrificing themselves to make him stronger during the final fight against the Toqger, Madame Noir's main goal is to take over the Shadow Line. To achieve that goal, she groomed her daughter Gritta to marry Z, knowing that once she became his wife, she would eat the Emperor, absorb his power and become the Emperess of darkness; as such, Noir would be the leader of the Shadow Line through her daughter. Even if Nero was suspicious about her, going as far as trying to kill Gritta to twart Noir's plans, he wasn't able to stop the wedding. The fact that Z was fascinated by Gritta's shiny eyes only made it easier for the treacherous noblewoman. While Noir's plan seemed to work at first, it ended up completely backfiring when, after a big fight against the Toqger, Z ended up taking over Gritta's body, keeping her spirit trapped in the Emperor's body. Disgraced, Noir was now reduced to a status of servant, bossed around by Morc to collect darkness.She had only one hope : after realizing that her daughter was still alive within Z's body, she decided to do everything she could to rescue her, so she could take back her position of leadership. As usual, Nero keeped an eye on her. However, she still managed to free Gritta from Z's body, with the help of Schwartz and Zaram/Akira, at the cost of her own life. But while she died, she was happy to see her daughter free at last, displaying that while she used her daughter for her own goals, she still loved her sincerely.

Schwartz

General Schwartz is also very interesting, because of the character development he shows during the show. At first, he's a typical evil military leader who wants to conquer the world as a warrior. He's somewhat an outcast amongst the Shadow Line because he's more interested in fighting with trains than in collecting darkness, and, unlike Nero, he believes that the fact the Emperor is more interested in shiny stuff than in conquests served his ambitions. In his plans against the Rainbow Line, the Shadow Line general revealed himself as a good fighter and a very cunning and competent strategist : he caused a lot of trouble to the Toqger. Schwartz was aware of Gritta's feelings towards him, and while he genuinely appreciated them, he was still ready to betray her if it could serve his ambitions. Schwartz had formerly Zaram as a fellow warrior, and he was furious when the rain Shadow monster decided to quit the Shadow Line to work for the Rainbow Line. Besides, he didn't understand the motivations of his former comrade.When Gritta became the Emperess of Darkness, Schwartz could at last fulfill his ambitions, attacking the Rainbow Line with Kurainers and even taking over some of the heroes's trains. He almost managed to defeat the heroes. However, the Toqger managed to defeat him, and he only managed to avoid death thanks to Gritta's sacrifice, who protected him from Cho Cho Toqdai Oh final attack. Schwartz was deeply moved by the young girl's actions, especially since he knew he had deceived her. The General was further shocked when he saw Z seemingly kill Gitta by taking over her body. The Emperor who already knew of Schwartz's traitorous actions, got rid of him pretty quickly, seemingly killing him.

Schwartz survived, but was changed forever. He couldn't forgive himself for his role in Gritta's doom, and he had only one goal : avenging her by killing Z. Branded as a traitor in the Shadow Line, he couldn't come back any more. When he discovered that Gritta was still alive in Z's body, he realized he wanted to save her. For the first time, Schwartz was caring about someone else than himself, putting the well-being of Gritta over his own. He still used treachery to achieve this goal, stealing the Toqger the Drill Ressha, only giving it back after blackmailing Akira/Zaram into joining him again. However, even the Shadow Line warrior turned ToqRokugo knew that Schwartz had changed. When he joined him again, they both shared hearfelt conversations showing that they both could understand each other much better than before. Zaram and the General managed to become a great team against Z, and his Shadow Line lieutenants. Sadly, while Schwartz cared a lot about Gritta, he didn't understand her, and didn't listen when Mio told him that the former Emperess didn't wish to be freed from Z's body. At the end, with Noir's help, he managed to free Gritta, even managing to put her in his Kurainer before being killed by Z. His feelings for Gritta have shown that underneath the ruthless general, there was an honorable heart that shone inside his body, something Z could notice. At the end, even the Toqger realized that they had a opponent who deserved their respect, even lighting a candle in his honor, and Akira giving his former general the grave a true warrior deserved. 

Zaram/ Akira Nijino/Toq6go

The changes Schwartz experienced had happened much earlier in Zaram's heart. But unlike the Shadow General, it was the beauty of the rainbow that moved the Shadow Monster's heart. Ironically, he's in a way responsible of the creation of rainbows, since it's created by the shining of the sun going through the drop of rain. Anyway, that event awakened in Zaram a desire to protect beauty instead of conquering it. So, he left the Shadow Line and joined the Rainbow Line. He was still tormented by his past and the sadness he caused because of his powers, even if one must admit that he's overreacting, because most people see rain as a natural event. That's also the reason he was pretty a loner at the beginning, having trouble befriending the Toqger, keeping a suicidal spirit, always thinking his next battle might be his last. However,  the five heroes could count on him to help them against the Shadow Line. Besides, the heroes managed to reach his heart, as shown when they managed to find him a new name : Nijino Akira. As a former member, he knew about their evil, and it motivated him to fight them and give the Toqger any info he could about his former clan. However, he's also a man of honor, and when Schwartz blackmailed him to join him in exchange for getting back the Drill Ressha. Fortunately, since the general was mostly targeting Z, he was mostly able to avoid confronting his comrades. And after Schwartz's death, he at last allowed himself to be closer to the other Toqger. And in the finale, he managed to overcome his suicidal feelings. In a lot of ways, Akira/Zaram's arc is about letting go of the past, and embrace who you really are. And the fact he witnessed his former general, Schwartz, live a similar experience helped him, in a way, because he had someone who could at last really understand him.

Z

Emperor Z is probably the most atypical "Big Bad" seen in sentai, because of how reluctant he is to embrace that role. The first time he appears, he looks like an awkward young man with a childish personality, who seems to discover the marvels of an amusement park, especially everything that shines, and tries to make friends with Right. Who could imagine that this strange person who absolutely loves light would actually be the Emperor of Darkness himself? And very quickly, we see the tragedy of that emperor, who lives light, but can't stand being exposed to it too long, because he's a creature of darkness. Z's story arc is his desire to catch that light that fascinates him, and make it a part of himself. However, to his frustration, he seems unable to succeed. He wants the light, but can't get it. 

His fascination to the light is also what makes him attracted to Gritta, who seems to have that shine within herself. That's the reason he plays into Madame Noir's plot. But while Z is obsessed about light, he's far from an idiot. He's perfectly aware of his subordonates's plots, and even if he let them do what they want, he makes sure he stays one step ahead of them. Besides, he knows how powerful he is and that he can thwart any plot against him. Even when he ended up sucked into Miss Gritta's body after marrying her, he manages to use it for his benefit, since he manages to absorb his bride into his own body after a while, in order to get her "shine". But Gritta manages to survive inside him, and because he's so fascinated by her "shine", he doesn't find the will to destroy her, even if he could. Besides, Gritta is probably the only being he's pretty fond of, because she's the only one who tries to understand him. A striking element of Z is that he's brutal with everyone, his enemies and especially his fellow Shadow Line. He has no problem hurting them, and treating them disrespectfully. However, there is one exception : Gritta. He behaves very calmly with her, he often talks to her with an affectionate tone. Even when she frustrates him, he stays respectful towards her. It's telling that, outside Gritta, the person he seems to feel the closest is ... Right/ Toq1go, his worst enemy. Gritta becomes pretty much Z's voice of reason, almost his conscience, who manages to make him keep in check his darkest impulses. It's telling that Z constantly spared her, even if he ends up destroying all the other Shadow Line generals : Schwartz, Noir, Nero and Morc. Even when he seemingly killed her, it ended up he let her live. And this atypical kindness ends up saving his life at the end.

Z's relationship with Right is also a fascinating arc of Toqger : when they first met, Right didn't know he was the Emperor of Darkness, but as soon as he learnt, he saw him as an enemy. However, because of his power, Z didn't see Right as a threat, but more as someone who fascinated him because of his "shine"; Z's antagonism against Right was mostly motivated by his desire to possess inside him his light. But he didn't hate him far from it; actually, Right was, with Gritta, the only person Z took a real interest. It's very telling that the emperor seemed disappointed when he saw the young Toqger embrace darkness during the final arc. At the end of the series, a link between Z and Right is revealed : the young Toqger became an adult thanks to the power of Z's darkness, and at the same time, Z came in contact with Right's "Shine" : the symbol of that link is the "Twinkle Twinkle little star" song that the Emperor heard from the five future Toqger when he invaded their town.

During most of the show, Z doesn't bother leading the other members of the Shadow Line, to the great frustration of Nero or Morc. He cared too much about the light to bother covering the world with darkness, even if he let his generals do the job. Even when he ended up involved, he was more tagging along than anything else. It's telling that when he managed to sneak into the Rainbow Line during the Christmas arc, he didn't attack anyone there, only getting there not to be bothered by his fellow Shadow Line. Only at the end, when he realized he couldn't get the "Shine" he craved so much that he finally embraced his role as emperor of darkness and become a classic "invader of the world". But even then, it was more despair than a desire of conquest. When he defeats a darkness filled "Right", he seemed annoyed. When the Shadow Line seemed victorious, Z was just sulking on his throne, bored. But when the Toqger managed to pull themselves together, and when light came through  the darkness, suddenly, Z seemed alive again, moved by the "shine" he wanted so much. And unlike Morc and Nero, who were furious that the Toqger managed to destroy the Castle Terminal and bring back light, Z felt almost happy to see at last Right shining more brilliantly than ever. After a last showdown, during which Z took the darkness of Nero and Morc, he's finally defeated. But at that time, he's not furious against his enemies because he lost : instead, he looks at a rainbow and is amazed by its beauty, like Zaram did before him. And, unlike most sentai Big Bads, he survives his final confrontation with the heroes, because Gritta comes to save him and bring him back to the darkness. At the end, there is a real hope that Z will find at last peace with Gritta.

Gritta : perhaps the real heroine of Toqger

Gritta is one of my favorite characters in the sentai franchise, despite her ugly design. Why? Because she shows an amazing character development, and because, despite being a member of the villain group, she ends up being the most sympathetic character of the show. At the beginning, she's shown as a spoilt brat, but very quickly, her feelings for General Schwartz are revealed, and she does everything she can to help him in his confrontations against the Rainbow Line. Besides, it's very soon revealed that her mother wants her to marry the Emperor of Darkness, even if it goes against her daughter's wishes. When she encounters Z for the first time, she's so scared of him that she tries to flee her home, and she even made a weak attempt to kill him, but her soft heart made it impossible for her to succeed. Because of the shine in her eyes, Z ended up attracted by her, and was ready to marry her. While Gritta could see that Z's obsession with light made him suffer, she was still horrified to become his wife, even (or likely especially) after her mother told her the truth about the marriage, and she tried to escape again, but this time, with Schwartz, the man she loved. She even stole Mio's body to succeed. Unfortunately, the General cared mostly about his career, so he told Z about her attempt and the Emperor brought back his future bride. During the wedding, Gritta ended up absorbing Z and his power, and her personality changed. Z's darkness gave her red eyes, a cold and ruthless personality, and she fought directly the Toqger as the new Empress of Darkness. However, a handkerchief which previously belonged to Schwartz reminded her of her feelings towards him, and she was at times able to overcome her new darkness. At the end, when Schwartz was about to be defeated by the Toqger, she sacrificed herself to save him, having her Kuliner taking the heroes's attack. As she was lying, close to death, she revealed that even if she knew Schwartz had betrayed her, she still loved him. She knew that her mother was using her as a pawn to get power, and her feelings for the general was the only thing she could claim as her own decision. At that moment, her body burst, and soon afterwards, the Emperor came back in a new, more powerful form, having absorbed Gritta in his own body.

However, she was still alive inside Z, even if she was trapped in his body. However, she was able to somehow keep Z's darkness in check, even revealing herself at time to stop Schwartz's attack on the Emperor or even saving Light from being absorbed by Z. Even if the Emperor knew that Gritta was interfering with his powers, he never had the heart to erase her, because he still saw her shine as something too precious to destroy. At that time, Gritta had become a completely selfless character, doing everything to protect others, and even being ready to stay in Z's body if by doing so, she was able to protect those she cared about, especially Schwartz. Even the Emperor was impressed by her selflessness. During Christmas time, the Emperor's power had weakened enough for her to take over again, and at that time, she decided to ask the Toqger's help to stop Schwartz from freeing her. Unfortunately, the General wasn't able to listen, and, with Madame Noir's help, she ended freed from the Emperor's body. Unfortunately, at that moment, Z's darkness wasn't held back anymore, and he became even more powerful, easily killing Noir and Schwartz, who had just the time to put Gritta in safety in his own Kuliner. But at that stage, Gritta was wise enough not to feel any hate or desire of revenge after losing the two people who mattered the most to her. All she wanted was to stop the violence, and she decided too ally herself with the Toqger to bring back the Castle Terminal into the darkness. At first, she succeeded, but she was soon discovered by the other members of the Shadow Line. Z confronted her, and she explained him that she didn't do it against him. On the contrary, she wanted to help him, explaining the Emperor why he wasn't able to shine, because shining had to come from within. Unfortunately, it only made Z so disillusioned that he decided to have the whole world overcome with darkness. But despite that, he still couldn't bring himself to kill her, and, at the end, after he was defeated by the Toqger, she was here to save him.

What an amazing character arc! And how fascinating that in such a dark background, surrounded by people who either want to use her, or kill her, she managed to keep her innocence. She undergoes the worst ordeals, but they make her even more selfless and caring of others than before. She sees her mother and the man she loves brutally killed, but she didn't hate the man who was responsible for that violence ; instead, she despised violence itself. It's incredible to see how this young girl ended up with such a mature and kind spirit. During the whole show, she displays an incredible bravery, in order to protect those she cared about. She ends up as least as much, if not more, heroic as the Toqger. 

Additional feelings about Toqger

Another reason I ended up fond of Toqger is its train theme, and the way it uses it. As a fan of trains, I was thrilled to see a story where the characters lived their daily lives in trains, and were travelling through Japan to search for their town. And of course, I loved the design of the trains, especially the Kuliner. But mostly, this huge railroad trip brought an atmosphere I enjoyed a lot. It's telling that the train theme of Toqger gave me inspiration to write a story involving a very special train.  

Conclusion 

It's telling by the length of the chapters I wrote about the Shadow Line members that I feels that they're the best part of Toqger. They have all an amazing design : the mooks, the MOTW, the Kuliner, and of course, the main members. Even Gritta, with her seemingly grotesque looks, ends up feeling pretty cute (her voice actress helped, to be fair). But, more importantly, they're incredibly fascinating characters, with very different personalities and evolution. Their storylines, more than the Toqger's, is the driving force of the show. Despite being "darkness", they make "Ressha sentai Toqger" shine, despite its flaws. And they're the reason why I enjoy much more that show now than when I've watched it for the first time.

Supernatural Season Three: Highway To Hell

Season two ended on an incredibly ominous note and a fantastic setup for season three. Just so we're up to speed, here is a quick recap for season two's finale: Yellow Eyes wanted to use psychics like Sam to open the gates of Hell. Sam was killed by another candidate so Dean sold his soul to bring him back. The brothers put a bullet in Yellow Eyes and got their revenge. However, all Hell has broken loose and I mean that literally. Now that we're caught up, lets get into season three.

First up on the hunting docket this season: The fckin' Seven Deadly Sins! Thats right, those things. Some of the most powerful evils in certain mythologies and they're a one and done motw. They make an amazing introduction to just what the demons that were trapped behind the gates can do and they throw the brothers a few curve balls. The entire episode is them sieging the house the brothers and Bobby are holed up in. They're saved by some quick thinking, some well placed traps, and a strange woman with a knife that can kill demons.

There are quite a few episodes this seasons that come close to season one's episodes so I'm not really able to pick my absolute favorite this time so I'll just go over a handful. "Sin City" is a pretty good episode. The brothers roll into town tracking down rumors of people suddenly changing so they think demons are in town and...they're not wrong. There are demons operating in the town but they're not doing the things you'd expect. All the demons really did was have a conversation with a local rich dude about all the money he could make if he sets up certain businesses in town. Its people's own vices getting the better of them thats the problem.

"Mystery Spot" is fantastic. Essentially the brothers show up in town to investigate a disappearance tied to some crummy tourist trap. Dean dies in the process and Sam essentially gets caught in a timeloop living the same day over and over. Sam racks his brain trying to figure out whats causing it and the twist is...well...its not the tourist trap. Remember how I said that season two wasn't the only time the Trickster showed up? Yep, its the Trickster. And the Trickster's reason for doing this? Well, its hard to tell if he is just bullshitting or not because well...its the Trickster but he says it was to teach Sam that Dean can't be saved. Its a stellar episode and some of Dean's deaths are pretty damn funny.

"Ghostfacers" features a ghost-hunting reality show team stumbling onto a case the Winchestors are working. This also isn't the only time they've have met these two chuckleheads. They met them back in season one in the episode "Hell House". The episode itself is honestly the scariest episode out of the 6 or 7 seasons I saw back in the day. It gave me nightmares the night I saw it and it still made me scream during the rewatch. Its a pretty simple plot, basically the Winchestors are raiding a haunted house that only lights up for one night every four years. They came looking for one ghost but find a lot more ghosts reliving how they died there and then shit gets terrifying. The episode flips between the standard tv-show style footage and the ghost hunting footage. It is pretty unsettling at points when the switch occurs so it works really damn well.

The drama portion of this season revolves around Dean's deal to bring Sam back. The rub is that he only gets a single year, not the usual ten. Dean isn't too eager to try and get out of the deal at first because the second term is that Sam drops dead on the spot if he does. A scene in the episode "Dream A Little Dream of Me" gives a pretty damn sobering look at just how much the hunting life has drained Dean. He beats a dream version himself to death just venting and letting out all the pent up frustration from everything his dad burdened him with.

What makes the drama this season work so well is that the hunting life isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Its not a question of if you'll die, its merely a question of when. If that werewolf you're tracking doesn't maul you, whatever else you hunt might end you. On top of that, once you're in, you're probably not getting out even if you survive. Hunters know too much of whats out there and the ones who've been doing this a long time have tangle with pretty much every conceivable thing that goes bump in the night. Some hunters can probably take solace in the fact that they'll never know when their number is up. Thanks to the deal, not only does Dean know when the bus is gonna pull up, he knows exactly which stop he is getting off at. Overall, season 3 is fantastic and builds on all the good points of season two and avoids most of its pitfalls.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Once And Always

If you know me, you know I've fallen out of love with the franchise over the last few years. My interest just dried up due to how much I've really disagreed with the direction the franchise has been heading. Due to that I was just going to wait and watch this whenever I felt like it, then a friend of mine who isn't big on Power Rangers said he enjoyed it and that I'd probably get a kick out of it. He was right.

I could go over how much this feels like Power Rangers, all the small easter eggs and callbacks, the rebuilt sets, the sheer level of threat Robo Rita poses, etc but first I'm gonna talk about one simple thing that I really held my interest about this special: It is exactly what I wanted from a more adult Power Rangers story. Its just a story about friends mourning their comrade and trying to do their best to take care of her family. Its about a daughter who lost her mother wanting revenge, having to be stopped before she actually gets herself hurt, and learning what it actually means to be a ranger. Its the characters going through all of that while trying to kick the villains in the teeth. Best of all, it manages to keep to the spirit of Power Rangers while doing that. Sure, the franchise has done this already once or twice to a degree but it imo its never really tackled it in the way this special does.

Ok, now for all that other stuff. First, even though I saw the juice bar in the trailer, I was still somehow surprised they recreated it as a set. Its admittedly smaller than I expected but I'm still impressed they went that far for it. The jokes and quips felt very much like something the 90s era of PR would've done so kudos for that. Robo Rita feels like a damn good threat. I knew they'd be hyping her up because she is the villain for the special but it still surprised me. Hell, her obliterating Trini was in the friggin' trailer and that still hit like a truck. I kind of expected Minh to annoy me but she was fine. Her lashing out at Billy hurt to see and it was really unfair to a degree but I totally get where her head was at. She missed her mom and really wanted to stop RoboRita as a way to avenge her. She took her anger too far and pretty much admitted how cruel she was. Thats a pretty adult way for a teenager to look at a situation.

Overall, this was pretty solid special. Did it rekindle my interest in PR? Not really. Did I enjoy it? Yes, very much so. There are some minor things that feel like they should create continuity issues but they really don't impact the special at all so I won't bother mentioning them. It feels a little off and like an unintended insult to say that MMPR has grown up but thats its exactly what this special feels like. Normally I'd end a post like this by saying whether or not I recommend this to people but this time, I'm not going to bother doing that. Why? Well...because its Power Rangers, its lasted 30 years so the audience is there no matter what I have to say about it. People already know if they want to see this or not. So uhhh...yeah, thats a weird point to end this on but here you go. I don't think that my word matters much given my current relationship with the franchise but I enjoyed it and thats pretty much all I can ask for these days.

Supernatural Season Two: Hell's Bells

Given how much the show uses classic rock and specific songs to highlight certain scenes, I'm going to give each post the title of a song that I feel is thematically appropriate for it. With that out of the way, I forgot to mention in season one's post but I consider Supernatural's first season to be one of the best first seasons of television in general. But thats just it, its the first season. No matter how good it is, its a starting point. The real question is if they can keep it up? Season two does well in that regard.

The first episode of season two kinda sets the tone for the brothers' emotional state for the rest of the season. So in order to properly talk about the season, I'm going to have to spoil it. Here goes: The first episode of season two continues on from the end of the first season, specifically from a pretty bad car wreck the Winchestors got into at the hands of a demon. Dean is in a coma and his spirit is wandering around the hospital looking for something thats killing patients in the place. The twist is well...its not actually a thing that needs to be hunted. Its a reaper just doing its job and Dean is on its list. The parts with John (their dad) and Sam make it look like John is just eager to find the demon that took their mother and he is, but not for that reason. He trades his soul and the gun that can kill it for Dean's life. On top of that, part of the price tag is John dying. I still remember seeing this episode back in the day and that twist left me with a lump in my throat. Before he dies, John also alludes to the demon (Yellow Eyes) that started all this having big plans for Sam.

The monster of the week episodes are pretty good this season even if a lot of them don't really hit the same level of memorable of season one's. Now, with that being said, there is one absolutely fantastic episode in this season that really lives up to the first season's motw quality and its easily one of my favorite episodes in the show. Its the episode "Tall Tales". Sam and Dean roll into town to investigate a death at a college linked to a supposed urban legend. They find nothing in the college's or town's history even remotely fitting said legend. So they get stumped and then things get weirder. A dude gets abducted by aliens and another dude gets mauled by a gator in the sewer. Just what the hell is going on in this town? Spoiler: Its not ghosts, aliens, or even sewer gators. Its all the work of one charismatic son of a bitch simply known as the Trickster just screwing with arrogant people for the hell of it as well as doing minor things to cause Sam and Dean to annoy each other so the can't figure out whats actually going on. The Trickster is probably my favorite monster of the week in the entire show or at the very least the 6 or 7 seasons I've seen (and this won't be the only time he shows up). I just can't properly express the level of charm the Trickster brings to the episode and the actor does great job.

The drama portion of this season is about Dean coming to terms with John's sacrifice. John isn't just gone on some hunting trip, he is never coming back. John's death still hits kind of hard these days but for different reasons. Its mostly because of Dean's reaction to finding out his father gave his life and soul to save him. Normal, snarky, confident Dean just goes dead silent for a solid minute and legitimately considers selling his own soul to bring him back when a demon makes the offer. Its downright chilling to me. Dean isn't the only one getting an arc this season, Sam gets one centered around why he was having visions in a few episodes of season one. Yellow Eyes is actor is great in this. Dude practically oozes menace to the point where he can convincingly threaten to show someone what their family's intestines look like with a big ol' smirk on his face.

This season seems to have switched the quality of the monster of the week episodes with the dramatic bits. Like I said earlier, they're still good but the drama just ended up more compelling this season. Its kinda of understandable why tho since it was about time to give the characters more depth than they had in the first season. As good as Supernatural's motw episodes have been these first two seasons, that can only take a show so far. The monster lore portions of the episode are still pretty sweet. Like I said in the opening, its a pretty good season that carries the torch well enough even if its motw episodes don't quite hit the level of season one's.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Normally I wouldn't talk about a show like this because I am not well versed in the genre or the table top RPG that Cyberpunk 2077 is based on but I couldn't stop thinking about it for a week after I finished it. I'm going to approach this post from two ways: 1. How the anime itself worked out for me and 2. Just how much it uses stuff from 2077. This isn't going to be a full-on review in my usual style and will be me just talking about how the show did its thing.

Premise: David Martinez is having a really bad time. A poor kid getting bullied at a corpo school and whose mom is just barely keeping everything together in order to raise the scratch to cover his tuition. On top of that, during one really bad day, he and his mom get caught up in a gang shootout and she dies. Pushed to the edge by the city's madness, David falls in with a crew of Edgerunners just to survive and feel some semblance of control or purpose.

I had a blast with this show. I started it only planning to watch the first two episodes and before I knew it, I was on the final episode. The fights in this show are absolutely insane looking which is to be expected from Trigger. The way the show visualizes how the Sandevistan works is absolutely gorgeous and beautifully done. It left my jaw on the floor every time David used it. The show looks stunning across the board. This show is one hell of a trip.

Night City is rough if you're not working for a corp and thats putting it mildly. If you don't get killed as collateral damage in some gang attack, you just might run into some random spaced out psycho in a back-alley who'll blast your head off at a moment's notice. Thats not even getting into the amount of gonks on the street who might try to mess with you as you go about your day. The only way to survive as a runner is to chrome up so you don't fall behind and the more you add, the more your clock ticks down. I figured out how the show would most likely end by the halfway point and I was still on the edge of my seat.

I'm not gonna lie, I've spent way too much time roaming Night City in 2077. In all honesty, I've spent more time than I should have farming Night City's mooks for item drops. Its basically my go-to game these days when I'm not playing stuff on the Switch. However, it did not occur to me just how long I've spent playing it until I saw this show. I knew exactly where every scene was taking place just based on minor background details. It more than did the city justice. Even the show's soundtrack is pulled from the game and I'm almost certain I heard a few sound effects from the game here and there. I think I may have also seen a few quickhack menu displays from the game fly by at one point.

Do I recommend the show? Definitely. Everything else aside, its a Trigger anime and it goes hard on the spectacle. I honestly think it would be worth a recommendation on that aspect alone. Overall, I had a great time with the show. I don't see any way to continue the story from this season but if there were another season and/or anime spinoff, I'd like it to be sort of a season long anthology type of show. I'd love to see a season centered around the gangs of Night City and how they interact. Maybe also a season about corporate power struggles and skullduggery.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Review: Coming Full Circle

I finally decided to go back and finish the first Sentai I ever saw. I was watching it on youtube back in the day before the toku purge happened. I remember just being in awe of what I was seeing. I finally got the chance to get back to it. Back in the day I got into the late 30s before everything got hit. So lets take a look at the show that got me into Sentai. Without this show, I probably wouldn't be active in the Sentai fandom if not the toku fandom as a whole. Note: There will be spoilers for Shinkenger's final arc because I need to talk about the overall arcs of two characters. Without further adieu...To the field!

A horde of monsters appear from a gap in a wall to terrorize a child. In what is probably my favorite introduction to a red, a man appears and effortlessly cuts them down. He is the 18th head of the Shiba: Takeru Shiba. After noticing that the Gedoshu attacks are becoming more and more frequent, his advisor Hikoma suggests finally calling Takeru's 4 retainers into service.

Characters:

• Takeru Shiba/ShinkenRed: Takeru is a take on the stoic red but is also very uncomfortable with his position as Lord. Mostly because he doesn't like the idea of his team potentially sacrificing their lives for him for a very good reason: He isn't actually the Lord, he is a decoy. The man was just a kid from a regular family raised to take the Lord's place. Dude's only role in life was to fight the Gedoshu until the actual lord mastered a way to banish their leader completely. Being ShinkenRed was his entire reason for living until that point and he was so lost once the true Lord returns that he finally accepted Juuzo's offer to duel to the death because he thought he had no other purpose.
• Ryunosuke Ikenami/ShinkenBlue: I don't think I've seen a blue like Ryunosuke, ever. Dude is a serious guy but is loud, energetic, and extremely expressive while he does it. He just seems so enthusiastic and Hiroki Aiba does well in the role. He does Ryunosuke's whole schtick in a way that keeps the character from crossing into annoying territory. Ryunosuke's passion is kabuki which definitely explains his overly dramatic way of doing things. As for his arc, Ryunosuke is extremely loyal and devoted to his duty. The dude devotes himself to serving Takeru with his whole heart so naturally when he finds out Takeru isn't the Lord, he is torn between his duty to the Shiba clan and his duty to the person who has lead him into battle all this time. All of that combined makes him my favorite Shinkenger and potentially even my favorite Blue in Sentai as well as one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise.
• Mako Shiraishi/ShinkenPink: Mako's dream is just for a normal life. She wasn't allowed to have a childhood because of her samurai duties. She kind of takes on the team mom role because of that. Mostly confronting the others when she notices something wrong and lending an ear. It kinda didn't actually hit me until her last focus episode that she was hiding her own issues that went beyond her dream of a normal life. It honestly makes me think that her samurai training costing her time with her parents is probably the biggest reason for why thats her dream. That realization and seeing her crack like that honestly made me tear up a bit.
• Chiaki Tani/ShinkenGreen: Chiaki is a bit of slacker but is also pretty self-conscious and a bit frustrated about his skills since he is the least trained of the main five. Dude has to think fast and improvise because of that. He uses his frustration as the drive to improve and attempt to outdo both Ryunosuke and Takeru. The man is legitimately improving in each focus episode he gets and I love it. Heck, even when he admits to Ryunosuke that he isn't as good as him or Takeru, Ryunosuke straight up tells Chiaki that he brings something to the team that they can't: His ability to improvise and adapt. As cliche as that trope is, I dig it.
• Kotoha Hanaori/ShinkenYellow: Kotoha was not supposed to be a Shinkenger, her older sister was until she got sick. She is a sweet, kind girl who calls her self clumsy and useless early in the show to the point where she is convinced the only thing she had to offer the team was her life. That coupled with the insult monster episode really hurt more this time around. Just hearing her say "It doesn't matter because its all true anyway" hurt me because I've been in that position myself more times than I want to admit. Her episodes are fine tho episode 22 just kinda does nothing for me. Her ultimate arc is her learning to accept that she is not just her sister's replacement, she IS ShinkenYellow.
• Genta Umemori/ShinkenGold: Takeru's childhood friend. Genta is loud, energetic, and goofy. His more goofy antics work well when used to balance out Ryunosuke's serious antics. Due to not being from a samurai family, he adds a nice bit of normal guy dynamic to the team. His dream is pretty simple: He wants to own his own sushi restuarant. When Takeru was revealed to be figurehead, Genta didn't change much if at all. Yeah, he was shocked like everyone else but he wasn't blinded by or conflicted with his duty to some fancy Lord like the others were. Genta is just some regular dude loyal to his best friend. It made Takeru being sad when Genta had to leave town as a kid hit even harder in hindsight because Genta was probably one of the few people in Takeru's life that saw him as a regular person.

Villains:

The villains are fine though I wish Doukoku did more. He spends most of his time drinking and being angry. I get his whole deal is that he is a heavy hitter who can't leave the boat, I'm just more used to this type of villain being a background fixture or springboard for other villains to do their thing instead of being constantly hyped up as a major threat. Granted when he does finally do something, it feels like an earth-shattering moment. Shitari is interesting in that he basically plays the same advisory role for Doukoku that Hikoma (called Ji by the Shinkengers) does for Takeru. The main difference being that Takeru cares about the people under him while the only one Doukoku seems to have a soft spot for is Dayuu to the point where he can tell her mood by the subtle difference in that one tune she plays. Dayuu was betrayed in life by the man she loved who took another woman as his wife, then she burned the entire family alive and fell to the Sanzu River, taking his soul with her. Her story is actually pretty damn chilling to the point where went I wide-eyed at her accepting her situation and finally letting go of everything: Her regrets, her anger, her past, and her very humanity. Thats probably the biggest "Oh shit!" moment in the show for me. So...uhh...yeah, Dayuu is my favorite villain in the show. She is pain, regret, anger, and every other negative emotion all wrapped up in a big ol' box of denial.

If you had asked me which Shinkenger villain was my favorite way back when I started the show back in the day, I would've said it was Juuzo. Juuzo is a man who lives for battle and I mean that literally. He wants nothing more to find an opponent that can satisfy his bloodlust to the point where he decided to become a monster instead of letting a disease kill him. All he wants in the world is to find that one opponent who can potentially kill him so he can feel the joy of fighting for his life. The man got so engrossed in his final duel with Takeru that he forgot his sword (Uramasa) was sentient and thats the only reason Takeru didn't die. Villains who live solely for battle are usually hit or miss for me but Juuzo is definitely a hit. The man is arguably more of a monster than Doukoku to the point where its kinda terrifying. His duels with Takeru were definitely the most tense moments in the show.

Mecha: The origami are fine but the ones outside of the main five kinda fees like they lack any impact outside of the "Oh hey, we got a new mecha!" aspect of their debuts. Maybe I'd feel different about Squid and Lobster if they interacted with Genta like the main five's do with them. I find it amusing that the only thing Kyoryu Origama adds to ShinkenOh's arsenal is a new sword and hat. I don't like Samurai Ha-Oh and its probably one of my least favorite final mechs in Sentai. The robot itself is fine but the other half of the combo is just a platform for it to stand on. Ideally since it can't move that well, it should be used solely for the beam finisher instead of trying to choreograph around its bulk.

Music: The opening theme goes hard, a bit harder than it needs to but its still an amazing song and the opening sequence just gives me chills to this day. Its a fantastic hype machine and I always end up singing along with it. The ending theme is a great tune to close the show on and I've caught myself humming it more than the opening theme. The battle theme "Example" is a banger of a song even if its not one of my favorite battle themes and I wish it had shown up more than twice. However, my favorite piece of music in the entire show is easily that tune Dayuu plays on the shamisen. It perfectly captures her sadness and its a fairly haunting tune. 

Final Thoughts: I feel a bit like I've come full circle with this show in more ways than one. Not only did I finish the show that got me into Sentai but I finished it in the same place I started it. It was good to go back and finally finish the show. I've changed so much over the years and grown in regards to being a reviewer and how I analyze and talk about these shows. Back in the day when I first saw Shinkenger, I thought "Oh, I'll just watch this show to see what its like", I never expected to end up having seen at least 799 episodes of Sentai and thats only counting the Sentai I've finished. It just blows my mind to think about all the shows I've seen since that day. I'm a sucker for sword fights so naturally Shinkenger's action was and still is my jam. I knew the reveal with Takeru was coming ahead of time since I've been in the fandom for so long but it still hit like a truck regardless. Shinkenger is fantastic and while I don't do top 10s anymore due to stuff after fluctuating pretty frequently after number 5, for now Shinkenger is my number 6. It occurred to me while writing this post that Shinkenger is now technically both my 1st and 16th Sentai.