Post-Gokaiger Sentai - at the end of Heisei era

[Kamen Rider IXA]

I kinda feel like, in Toei's heart, they wanted it to be the last one.

Doubt it. Shinkenger was just few years away, even ratings weren't that bad yet. Toei just grasped the idea behind barrel full of Ranger Key money. I think they just wanted to wrap up and celebrate previous era or the show, before moving into new waters and updating it for modern audience with Go-Busters. I mean, we know how it all ended, but the intent to go on was clearly there.

I think Katsuhiro Suzuki was pretty cool in Kyoryuger VS Go-busters, though, so I think his problem was that he was JUST a little too young at the time of the show.

He did have some good moments near the end of the show as well. Honestly, I think I prefer post-retool Hiromu in general. Some of his issues also have to do with show not really pushing him to be at the center of things... and still making him more important than his comrades. He's just kinda there for so much of the season and I struggled to care about his paper-thin development since he has so little presence. In contrast with Enter it's clear more than ever. I also think that Go-Busters needed a more stoic classic Red. Everyone from the cast would have benefited from someone who pushed them to their limits and helped team to work out their issues (I don't know what exactly Kuroki was, but sure as hell aren't that). Hiromu would have been great as a "comptent kid with issues" of the series, maybe rising to leadership gradually.

And I disagree about the end, I feel like the show started actually trying in its final episodes. I thought Gengetsu's son was a pretty fun and different kind of villain.

I don't see any effort at all. Mangetsu Kibaoni's "I was pretended to be stupid"(I can't believe someone actually wrote this and thought it was a good idea) to give a lazy justification to a few unfunny jokes before completely changing the character (and the worst thing is that Ariake no Kata was easily the most entertaining villian after Kyuemon and she stuck with this little **** for thr rest of her life) , Gengetsu coming back for like 2 episodes after all that hype and ending up the most boring and underwhelming main villian in the Sentai history (seriously, I'll take dozens of Don Armages and that dude from the end of Kyoryuger over this Dokoku-wannabe), Raizo's back and he's just as pointless and useless as ever (and dies almost instantly again). Kyuemon storyline is rushed as hell and goes to **** frankly, since his cunning aspect is gone now and not much remains to the character (and don't get me started on how stupid his "redemption" was handled) and the "emotional" Grandad twist which was beyond stupid. I like that show tried to develop Kasumi (something that should have happen 30 episodes ago), but it was already too late by that point.
Ninninger in itself isn't purely an awful show, but last strech of episodes definitely is. This is where all their issues come to bite them in the ass and that finale is just a travesty.
Even Go-Busters recognized that Enter is by far the best thing they have and made him into main villian. Ninnin really needed to either make Kyuemon main villian as well or go with Midoninger route in the last quarter of the show (and not in shitty Returns movie). Either way would have been better than that we got.

The show had interesting ideas, but was just content to ride on autopilot. The only cast member I didn't like was Tokkachi, who I thought acted far more cartoony than the show was going for. They didn't put the theme of imagination to great use, they didn't take full advantage of...what the twist with the heroes was. I liked the idea that the heroes were piecing together their memories, but the show didn't seem mapped out enough to make that have the full impact.

I think little character moments are what makes Toqger cast so good. Moments like them deciding that there is no real leader in their team, because everyone in some way is. Moments like Toqger graduation and Akira watching team for 10 years without them able to see him in Returns movie. Or when Raito is ready to sacrifice his own future for his friends. That's what I like about Toqger team. Despite how they bahave, they ARE the heroes and ready to do what's necessary. And the twist gives even more weight to this.
It could have been a bit bolder and I do think show can get a bit too straightforward at times and not every character moment lands, but I still think plenty of them do.
It's one of the very few kid-centred shows I actually like.

There's worse casts out there, there's dumber storylines. But I guess it was just the nothingness of the show. It really reminds me of Goseiger.

Zyuohger also have a benefit of having a good soundtrack. Goseiger were incredibly generic in almost every single way until middle or so, but Zyuoh at least have energetic music. When that mystic-y Zyuland song starts to play, it makes show seems way more exciting than it actually is. And consideing how often song plays, it helps a lot, IMO. I also think villians were fine, even if they didn't do much for the majority of the series. I take Ginis, Azald and Quval over first two Goseiger groupes of baddies.
My biggest issue with Zyuohger is that it easily could have been a 26-episode show. It would be a fine short series, but there is just not enough material there for a full 50-eps one.

 

[Dr Kain]

Doubt it. Shinkenger was just few years away

Gokaiger was after Shinkenger...

 

[Kamen Rider IXA]

Gokaiger was after Shinkenger...

It's been only two years since Shinkenger.
Should have made that one more clear.

 

[Toku Prime]

Tbh I always kinda saw Go-Onger as the first show of the current era, but anyway.

I should maybe preface this by saying that I watched all the post-Gokaiger seasons weekly, so maybe they are different experiences if binge watched. I'm going to hide each one behind a button, because otherwise this will be really long.

Go-Busters

Spoiler: READY GO

It's just a weirdly outdated concept for the 2010s really. Let's just be honest, if they just said "virtual reality" instead of "alternate dimension" then this plot would fit right in with the likes of VR Troopers and Gridman from the 90s.
I remember at the time everyone seemed to be outraged that they faced Messiah six months in, though I thought it was one of the cleverest things the show did. So many toku sag in the middle because they're just spinning their wheels between setting up the show and beginning the endgame, but throwing in a fight against the big bad completely upsets that.
Also, while every mention of this show is seemingly obligated to point out the (imitation) leather suits, the major visual difference I'd like to point out is the throw back to actual vehicle cockpits rather than the "random room in another dimension" that so many Sentai use.
The final thing I have to mention is that the second opening them is SUCH A TUUUNE!!!

Akibaranger

Spoiler: Z-CUNE

Aww I just love this one. Even the second season worked for me. Sooo many references (somehow I accidentally deleted OverTime's episode notes, and I desperately wish I could find them again) but even beyond that it works so good as both a deconstruction and loving tribute to Sentai. Plus, it's just really funny.
Sadly it didn't boost Sentai Figuart sales the way they wanted it to, but it paved the way for the '10 Years After' specials and was a wonderful experiment. I would love it if things came full circle and they made an "Akibaranger 10 Years After" in a couple of years.

Kyoryuger

Spoiler: VAMOLA

It's really quite simple. This is the only subtitled toku show that has given me that "so excited I physically can't sit still in my chair while watching it" level of excitement that I used to get as a little kid watching MMPR. And yes, I'm sure if I cast emotion aside and critically analyzed it then it's far from the best season, but if I approached the television I saw like that then I'd probably be watching some oh-so-worthy drama instead of tokusatsu. It's about how the thing you watch makes you feel, and in that regard I can't help but rank it as one of my all-time favourites.

ToQger

Spoiler: IMAGINAAATION

I spent a lot of time being really down on this season, mostly for simply not being Kyoryuger, but it really grew on me as it went on. No, the writing isn't great; It might even be it's weakest point. But many other aspects of the show are really praise-worthy.
For example, the music: the transformation and combining-the-mecha themes feel epic, the guy who sang Gaorangers' opening theme sings a great theme for ToQ Oh, and I laughed out loud when they had the sheer balls to play a Japanese punk-pop version of "I've been working on the railroad (all the live-long day!)".
I also want to single out Akira (ToQ #6) as I think the actor gives a truly outstanding performance. Yes, his backrgound ("I was a villain but then I saw a rainbow and it was so pretty I decided to be good") should be utterly shite, but the way he reacts to little things with childlike wonder really sells you on the idea that he's amazed by this world and sells the character way more than anything in the script ever did. One of my favorite sixth rangers!

Ninninger

Spoiler: WASSHOI

You know, there's a very good reason that Sentai so often does the "rookie red ranger" thing: a really good way of explaining things (such as required backstory, for example) to your audience is to have a character who is new to the entire situation. So the other characters have to explain things to the rookie, which means it's also explained to the audience (see also, the companions in Doctor Who).
One of the worst ways to do this with the dreaded phrase "As you know..." That phrase basically means one character is about to explain something to another character even though they know this other character already knows the information AND this other character will just stand there being lectured to because the writer couldn't think of a better way to communicate this information to the audience. It's a completely pointless conversation that you would never have in real life.
I mention this because that's how Ninninger informs the audience of the show's backstory in the first episode. Straight out of the gate and into one of the most notorious 'bad writing' cliches. It's possibly the biggest "uh oh" moments I've ever had while watching a Sentai, and sure enough Ninninger proved itself to be a frontrunner for the title of worst Sentai seasons I've ever seen.

Zyuohger

Spoiler: TARZAN YELL

I really wanted to say something nice about this show, but as I sit and think about it the best I can come up with is "it's not Ninninger".

OK, the ZyuOh Whale suit was really cool looking. Bringing the Gokaigers back was a great way to celebrate the 2000th episode. And having the actor who played KR Kaixa in it produced some very funny memes.
Otherwise...not such a great one. In particular, having a sixth ranger who clearly suffers with a mental illness could have been a great tale of overcoming and still being valued...so of course they just made him the butt of every joke. Poor form, Toei. *slowly shakes head*

Kyuranger

Spoiler: OKYUU

OK, let's get the obvious point out of the way. Even though they start with nine heroes and add three more, the show really wasn't interested in telling the kind of stories that required more on the team than a usual Sentai. As a result, the show often has to find excuses to send some of them away and continue with a normal sized Sentai.
Having said that, the show did flesh out four characters pretty well, which is better than most normal-sized Sentai manage. The show is one of the more plot-orientated ones we've had, which was good for holding my interest, and explicitly making the show in it's own dimension neatly sidesteps the questions that crossovers nornally raise but don't want to answer.
I know Lucky rubed a lot of people the wrong way, but I had no issue with him. Spada was the one I didn't like. Shou Lonpo was so much fun too. All in all, I kinda liked this one.

Lupinranger Vs Patranger

Spoiler: ADIEU

Having recently got into the anime Lupin The Third, I really wanted to like this one. Like Kyuranger before it, it claims to have a unique premise but isn't really interested in telling stories outside of a normal Sentai. The difference is that Kyuranger was good enough as a normal Sentai to forgive that, while LuPat spent a lot of it's time relying on it's (admittedly more charismatic than usual) cast to carry a show that mostly coasted.
It was very clear right from the first trailers that the show was much more focused on the phantom thieves than the police officers, and it still perplexes me that a show that didn't have a big collectable gimmick toyline would nevertheless center it's story around a "collect them all" plot line. Why not save that for when it lines up with the toys?
Ultimately, I really wish this cast had been given a better show. They deserved more.

 

[Kamen Rider IXA]

I honestly don't understantad why people hate Ninninger so much, while giving pass to Kyuranger and Kyoryuger.
Every single problem Ninninger has can be found in either of these, except Ninninger can actually have one or two reasonably funny episodes occasionally and has at least one decent recurring villian (and two tolerable ones, I guess). I don't think there is a single episode of either K-series, which I liked from start to finish. Ninninger has a pretty bad cast, but it's not like those two have amazing characters or interesting development for them (although yeah, Kyuranger has an okay cast of actors/voice actors at least).
I just don't see what Ninninger makes so much worse compared to them.

 

[Black Fang]

I hate Ninninger and Kyoryuger both, for what that's worth. Kyuranger falls short of its ambitions, but it's still better than either of those.

Ninninger still had some good ideas to be sure. Even Kyoryuger. Some pieces of the sountracks were nice. But they really squandered most of the material with stupidity typical of current Sentai and Rider. That's the running theme of post-Gokaiger Sentai, trying new things yet never going the distance with them.

 

[Dr Kain]

Nah, Kyuranger is easily worse than Kyoryuger because of Lucky and the villains that did absolutely jackshit. At least the villains in Kyoryuger tried.

 

[Kamen Rider IXA]

Did they though?
I remember most of villians not doing ANYTHING was one of the things that made me hate Deboss so much.
"Lucky pair" was just there for the comedic effect, Dogold was a tough guy and they didn't do anything with his rivalry with Gold.
There was also crying guy who had a thing with Black that didn't go anywhere either.
Chaos was doing something occasionally, but it didn't amount to anything (seriously, I've seen this show twice and I STILL can't remember why and how did Deboss guys escaped death/came back to life after being killed in the middle and what was the bloody point of that). He had a thing with Torin, but their rivalry felt even more hollow that Dogold-Gold, since he never once accomplished a significant victory against him and they brought the whole thing up way too late.
There was also a headache guy, who was played by MegaBlue (that was kinda cool), but I don't remember anything he did before Dogold took his body.
That's all, unless I forgot something important.

Kyuranger villians aren't better, but at least they make sense more or less. I mean, they aren't the space virus which goes to a specific hell under earth at least. Don Armage is a decent idea (even if execution is so bad). Scorpio was a fine villian. He didn't do much, but at least had a couple of good scenes with Stinger (before show proceeded to ruin him at the last moment by turning him good). Quervo was "sigh... fine, whatever" character. At that point I really stopped caring, but it's not really a bad backstory for a big bad and at least show didn't make him a good guy at the last moment.

Neither series have villians I like, but I don't see what makes Kyoryuger villians better in one-on-one comparison.

 

[Dr Kain]

They had personalities and a little bit of development. Kyuuranger's villains had none of that outside of Stinger's brother who was gone before the quarter mark. Don Armage was a shitty ass villain who makes Genius look amazing. Hell, they both make Black Cross Fuhrer look deep.

 

[Kamen Rider IXA]

They had personalities

I'm not really sure "gimmicks" qualify as personalities.

a little bit of development

Which happened in the last 10 episodes or so, because show suddenly decided to make them sympathetic. It's not a "development" really.

Hell, they both make Black Cross Fuhrer look deep.

Eh, I don't know if I go that far with Ginis. He didn't do a lot, but he wasn't a bad villain.