| Did I watch episode 4.... I'm not sure now. =/ *checks* Oh wait! Yes, yes I did. Episode 4: Well, better teamwork this episode and some cool fighting, but I'm obviously not very emotionally invested in this series. XD |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Episode 5: So that's how blue's weakness works! I kind of like that, especially what they do with his voice when it happens. Yellow is officially the weakest character in all respects. I just noticed the bunny on her helmet too. Overall a decent episode. This is at least fun fluff. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| 6 |
| 7 |
| Ep 6: Meh. Was surprised how it went down this time, but overall it wasn't all that exciting and didn't really push the plot or characters forward enough. Though the end battle felt sort of classic, you know? Just seems the writers are trying too hard to make this group out to be cooler than they are. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| I don't know, I think the writers are just writing normal sentai stuff. The problem is that the characters aren't cool enough for that. |
| Well, you know I haven't watch enough Sentai to make that comparison, and I'm not disagreeing with you, but I'm sure this would have been the same with any other actors. They're not the root of the problem, though they do add to it. So far the three of them have been written as fairly independent colleagues. There's very strong workplace themes in this series. We see this when yellow complains about having more experience, or any scene the commander is. The dynamic is less like siblings (magiranger style, as I think it should be) and more like sempai and kouhai in a company. And the episodes put a lot of emphasis on training, responsibility, and work. But there's still this sense of family in the background (they lost theirs, after all, and still hope to save them), but instead of using that to its full advantage it's being downplayed. They can't avoid it however, because the more natural route would have been for the three of them to have become each other's surrogate family and blue, red, yellow just naturally fall into the older brother, rebellious middle child, and little sister pattern. The problem really is just how serious the characters are written, the moulds they're being forced into, and just the style of the series in general. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| "this would have been the same with any other actors." I didn't write it was the actors' fault. I wrote: the characters aren't cool enough for that. True, good actors bring stuff to the characters and make them alive and cooler. But it's a Sentai and I don't expect good acting. I can't really put my finger around it, but they just aren't cool. I don't really think it's because of the style of the series. Maybe you're right about the dynamic, but I think the biggest problem is how they're written; Serious, as you say, but also bland. There's nothing really different about them. Yoko is a brat and that's that. There's nothing more. Ryuji too. The only one to have something more is Hiromu, with his sincerity, but even that isn't enough. Hiromu isn't a good red, for instance. He's too mild. He doesn't show the intensity Takeru, Akashi or Mabe showed. He's like: hey, I'm doing my job. When I'm done, I'll go home. And he doesn't stand out. A Red must stand out. Ryuji could be cooler if that bad boy side was something that showed up more often instead of just when he overheats. He doesn't have any cool points. Yoko should do more than just act stupid and bratty. I don't really know, most of the bratty characters in sentai are bad, but they have other 4 to make up for them. With a 3-man team, you have to be good on your own. They should look at what made Luka work. She had a similar personality, but it worked better. |
| Ha, oh. I think I just misunderstood you. I agree on all points, but for the record the characters and how they're developed is a product of the writing, so it's still the writing's fault. =P |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Ep 7: Meh. I wasn't playing attention in the second half. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| But sometimes it isn't the writers that come up with the characters. They just have to make to with what they have. As a comic book fan you know that. There are characters that are just easier to write. Maybe if Ryuji went Makito or Hojii... I mean get a personality and go all the way. If you're going to be the big brother, be the Aniki. If you're going to be the cool blue, be the cool blue. Or be the Aniki AND the cool blue all the way, why not. The problem is being just a little of both. Hiromu's personality would work better if he was a girl. In fact, Yoko's simple thought behaviour would work better if she was a boy. They could've swapped their personalities. But that isn't the problem. They just need to add some "fire" to Hiromu. Then he's all right. As for Yoko... I really don't know... maybe making her funnier. Like making her tell jokes or something. |
| Well, I don't agree about your comic books to Sentai comparison (I'm thinking American comic books?). I don't 100% know how Sentai series are created, but I have an idea that they start with something like a think tank, made up primarily of writers, a producer, a director, probably a toy designer, and they brainstorm the style and direction of the series. Then it gets put to script and directed. In the start they do have complete control over the series and that's the "writing" I'm referring to. In TV writers have quite a bit more creative control than other mediums, so I highly doubt the concept and characters were dumped on them. Sigh. I don't know why I'm even arguing about this. One way or another, the characters were poorly designed and are being poorly developed. That much we definitely agree upon. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Even though the writers might be a part of the think tank, they don't control it. Sure, they probably have a say, but I don't think everything is ends up how each writer would like. Thing is: when writing comics (supers) and sentai, you have a lot of restrictions. You aren't free to take the story to the direction you like. It's like they're dogs walking with their owners. They are free to go until they reach the length of the reach. But the owner chooses where they're heading. Also, there is usually more than one writer per show, so you can't do everything on your own. You can't have one writer doing one thing and the other doing the opposite. And we're just discussing things. That's the point of an internet forum. Just exchanging ideas. |
| I'm a writer, as in one by profession. I now also have a DEGREE (YAY!). So there's no need to explain to me how group writing works. And for the record, it's very different in comics and television. I mean, in comics (American at least) there is no think tank. Sure, you're writing, and there's an artist unless you're doing that too, and there's an editor. But an editor is nothing without a writer, and I think you're seriously exaggerating the amount of control they have. No one is on a leash. Writers are not dogs. It requires a certain amount of passion to work with established characters, but it's more like everyone is working to further that character's story. It's not restrictive, it's collaborative, and additive. Believe me, characters are being taken in new directions literally all the time (it's gotten to the point where there's maybe been too many writers stirring the pot for all these years and characters should be killed off/abandoned, but oh well). The characters in comic books today are NOT the same as they were fifty years ago. Hell, even 10 years ago. Hell, a YEAR. Literally many of DC's characters were a whole lot different this time last year than they are now. Editors didn't make all these decisions. Writers did, with some input and guidance from editors sure, but mostly, yes, it was writers and creators. It is and always has been a collaborative process. You know, in American TV the writer is king. A group of writers collaborate, but the network doesn't have a noose tied around their neck saying "write this way!" No, the writers are the ones deciding where things go, and there's always a head writer, the showrunner, who's responsible for the big decisions and the overall direction of the show. In Japanese dramas, at least, they don't often have groups of writers. The "scenario writer" will have input from the producer, but in general they're much like a novelist. With Sentai, I know it's group writing (I looked it up). Even if there's some producers (Toei, network, etc) saying "we want a tough girl, an older brother-type, and a rebellious one" it's going to be up to those writers about how to go about characterizing them, how quickly or how slowly to develop them, and exactly who those characters are as people. Now, I'm not saying Kobayashi Yasuko is a hack. She brought us the delight of Shinkenger! So maybe the concept has more influence after all? But her work on GoBusters does explain the buddy-roids' similarity to Den-O's Imagin (she was head writer for that as well). Ah well. There's no such thing as a consistently good writer. In fact, I'm pretty sure "consistently" and "good" together forms an oxymoron. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Congratulations about the degree. I know it's not easy. I'm talking about supers. Vertigo, for instance, is another matter. And I disagree. Quesada didn't like married Spidey. He undid the marriage. Spidey had shown he was Parker for all too see, but that wasn't interesting, so they undid that. Can a writer kill Spidey? No, he can't. And even if he's allowed to do a story like that, it'll soon be reverted somehow. They just can't do whatever they want with the characters. They're not free. They're restricted. You mentioned DC's characters being different. Well, isn't that the result of an editorial decision to do a mega event that made them different? In fact, the editor calling a new writer and telling him to reformulate a character is pretty much him saying: I don't like the direction the writers went with the character and I want you to change it. And the question is: how long until it's changed again? And if I'm not mistaken, all those mega events are planned by a think tank of important writers and editors. Oh, the characters change, I agree. But it's more the result of them being updated to the current state of the society than the character being developed by the writers. Of course, there are some exceptions. In essence, they are the same. Batman is still the same guy. One writer might emphasize his violent side or his trauma or even his heroism. But he won't be able to make him abandon his secret identity or try to become the president. Not permanently. And if you can't do whatever you want with the character and the setting, that means you're on a metaphorical leash. Maybe as a writer you focus on what you can do with the charater. As a simple reader, I can't help observing what you can't. "A group of writers collaborate, but the network doesn't have a noose tied around their neck saying "write this way!"" It's different. If the network isn't satisfied, it cancels the show. Pretty simple. And it's different because the business is different. The TV show is produced by a third party. Producing the TV show isn't the networks' business. If it isn't satisfied, it can just greenlight the production of the next show. Marvel and DC are the ones that actually do the comics and they can't cancel spider-man or batman. That's their business. Sentai is part of Toei's business. They're the ones who produce it and take it to the network. And they can't just say: well, Go-bus is a failure, let's cancel it and make another show. You saw what they did to Hibiki. "maybe the concept has more influence after all?" I think so. But then again, OOO's and Den-O's problems can't really all be blamed on the concept. Maybe she was particularly good in Shinkenger and the other shows are her normal. Oh, and there are consistently bad writers, like Kubo Tite, and consistently good wirters, like Oda. I think the oxymoron would be consistently exceptional. Or is it a paradox? |
m4rc0Apr 13, 2012 8:12 PM
| 8 movie trailer |
| Episode 8: A bit of lame writing here, but it was cool. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| 9 |
| 10 |
| Ep 9: Alright. In some ways I like the companion bots. Cute plot as well. Just nothing spectacular. Ep 10: Started out good. But predictable. Cuteness prevails in this series. Makes me appreciate the badassery of previous series. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Goseiger did that too. |
| It's just marketing for the movie. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| 11 |
| 12 |
| Ep 12: ^What m4rc0 said. Kind of annoyed they tried to add depth to Yoko in this way. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Episodes 4-12: |
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| 13 |
| Episode 13: Next time on Tokumei Sentai YellowBuster: |
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| Nick's suit actor is admirable. He actually makes Nick appear more interesting than the Gobusters. Which is kind of sad as well. Definitely a Den-O vibe, but not as awesome with Gorisaki and Usada. Usada is as boring as Yoko. Ep 13: Enter is brilliant. That's all one can say about this episode. Well, that and the mystery was... mysterious. Next: |
| <---made of awesome! |
| 14 next ep: Gorisaki and Usada can't be as funny as an Imagin because Usada is just a trash bin and Gorisaki's suit actor can't even open his hands... And Gorisaki has no neck... I understand that Usada should be a little robot, but they could've gone SaGoZou on Gorisaki's arms and left his neck free. |
m4rc0May 28, 2012 12:14 AM
| Haven't watched 14 yet, but I feel so bad for Enter. He actually does seem brilliant (he's a surprisingly well-written villain despite the silly French), but for whatever reason he's stuck on Messiah's thumb, and he's saddled with incompetent or at least inferior comrades. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Working iwth inferior comrades comes with the territory, even though many of his underlings managed to make his plans work. This last two almost made. Whant really drags him down is messiah. I mean, with an Alpha 5 like that you just can't have a Zordon raging all the time. |
| Oh my gosh. XD I hadn't even noticed that PR comparison until you mentioned it. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| I read Messiah looked like Zordon somewhere on the internerds. From there to think of Enter as Alpha... |
| 14: Who cares about Yoko, really? If only she was ACTUALLY that cute. Sneaky stuff was kind of fun, though. Ending: Wait a second... I recognize that voice! Preview: LMAO. So it is. Okay, okay. So it WAS a good idea to wait for the next team members. I mean, how did they even know that's one of the only two series I've enjoyed watched all the way through? |
SusanMay 28, 2012 10:45 PM
| <---made of awesome! |
| Episode 14: Next time: |
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| No, I wasn't. |
| I'll just edit that out then. ;) |
| <---made of awesome! |
| I honestly don't mind. GoseiKnight kept Goseiger interesting for a while, so a non-human Go-Buster paired with a human Go-Buster could be interesting. |
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| 15: Agree with all your points, m4rc0! This should be interesting. I'm especially curious about his motives, but it's not surprisingly it turned out that way. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| 16 |
| Considering that Gai managed to recognize Battle Kenya, Denji Blue and Sharivan even if they're played by the same actor, he won't have problems with Jin. |
| 17 |
| My only thoughts on the last 3 episodes? Jin and J are going to single-handedly save this show. |
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| Too soon to tell, but their presence is VERY positive. |
m4rc0 said: Too soon to tell, but their presence is VERY positive. They have an INCREDIBLY interesting gimmick, the suits look nice, the mecha they pilot are pretty neat, and the two have good dynamics with each other and the other Go-Busters. The other three may still be rather dull, but at least BeetBuster and StagBuster will be constantly fun to watch. |
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