A simple passerby...
- Joined
- May 24, 2007
- Messages
- 2,445
I've been gone for awhile, but I mostly still viewed this site, just didn't log in to post because it felt like people weren't really active on here.
But I'd like to ask people what they think of the writing standards of Tokusatsu as of late. I find them to be almost lacking in creativity, and when they DO get somethings right, the lack of follow through on setups, or throwing them away as red herrings or to make a gag simply has been ruining it for me. I'm still blaming Den-O for starting this trend, although Den-O is actually pretty okay and it's comedy makes sense in the setting it takes place in. In other shows, yeah, not so much.
Right now, I'm struggling to find any interest in Zi-O outside of watching past actors of previous shows I love return and wanting to know how it ends so I can put it behind me and look forward to the next, better written show. I hate Sougo's actor, he's probably a fine actor, but I don't like his public persona, I don't like his voice, his face, his build as a person, and I think he's not Rider-material at all. That's coming from someone who was born in 1994 and grew up with a huge collection of Showa era DVDs and watched Kuuga as a 5-6 year old and loved it though. The lines they give Sougo? I mean... can this guy be anymore ditzy yet they need to emphasize that he's somehow... smart? You can just do it... because you feel like you can? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that, it's just... this guy doesn't really have an interesting narrative arc, or at least, his acting and the directing or the lines they give him and what we see of him isn't very griping. It's almost as if this entire show is reliant on the twist of what Sougo will do when he confronts Oma-Zi-O for the second time after collecting the remaining Ride Watch. Like, I just feel drained watching this. Like I'm forced on this "collect them all" adventure, and it's really boring to watch, especially when some characters that do return from previous shows are entirely butchered (I'm looking at you Kenzaki), or their legacies are (Hibiki).
Geiz's actor seems capable, but I think they've given him a lot of stereotypical "I must hate the protagonist because plot demands it, now I must like him, but still maintain my passive aggressive attitude). Also, after watching the Rider Time Special Ryuki (which I think completely undid all the good Ryuki's ending did), the shot where they shopped Ren's face over Geiz's face just showed me what they thought of his character. So he's a caricature of Ren... I'm not impressed, although I did laugh at it when I first saw it, in hindsight, the creativity is really lacking.
Woz was interesting at first... now he's a comic relief. I think his actor has great charisma... they just wasted him on making Light 2.0 with White Woz... which basically served for Black Woz to get the Beyond Driver. Trinity form is so bad for trying to copy Climax form, and then linking itself to Agito Trinity as a "wink wink, see what I did?" moment, but at least it's design is better to look at than Zi-O's final form leak image. That **** is a clusterf**k.
I mean, most of my complaints are really about Rider. Beyond that, I've been able to get back into Ultraman for a bit. I liked Orb, till they turned his show into a cliché tale that's trying to hard. The opening and ending are phenomenal, if only the show did better in it's second half. I completely hated Geed outside of Zero and Belial's involvement. I didn't like the actor, and I thought the plot was so by the books it just... didn't sit well with me. R/B is a disappointment. But yeah... I'm not too excited about the next Ultra series either. How many more sons of Ultras do we need exactly? Also, I don't know if I missed it somewhere... but... how do Ultras make babies? The rate they're popping them out is like... dude, slow down now, just cause Seven got a son, now everyone's getting a son? Sure, his design looks great and all. But... I don't know, I much prefer Ultra shows that has nothing to do with the trope of "will the son ever be as great as his father?" I think this is just the mindset of people in the Asian provinces mostly. Prior to the economic crisis in 1993, I think it was that notion of my parents generation achieving greatness, and then here comes my generation... failing to even live up to anything remotely feasible despite being much more capable, having more skills, and knows how to press a simple print button on the computer. I truly think this is a driving factor to the psychology of writing about sons of great heroes. The need to establish something of your own, whilst separating from the comfort that your parents provided, at the same time comparing their achievements with yours... which only results in working on a pre-established series by the older generation and... not making anything new as a result.
I'm not much of a Sentai fan. I watched it as a kid, and have fond memories of Zyuranger, Dairanger, and my favorite was Kakuranger. But that's about it really. If any of you would like to vent, I suppose, this might be a good thread. Please just keep it civil.
But I'd like to ask people what they think of the writing standards of Tokusatsu as of late. I find them to be almost lacking in creativity, and when they DO get somethings right, the lack of follow through on setups, or throwing them away as red herrings or to make a gag simply has been ruining it for me. I'm still blaming Den-O for starting this trend, although Den-O is actually pretty okay and it's comedy makes sense in the setting it takes place in. In other shows, yeah, not so much.
Right now, I'm struggling to find any interest in Zi-O outside of watching past actors of previous shows I love return and wanting to know how it ends so I can put it behind me and look forward to the next, better written show. I hate Sougo's actor, he's probably a fine actor, but I don't like his public persona, I don't like his voice, his face, his build as a person, and I think he's not Rider-material at all. That's coming from someone who was born in 1994 and grew up with a huge collection of Showa era DVDs and watched Kuuga as a 5-6 year old and loved it though. The lines they give Sougo? I mean... can this guy be anymore ditzy yet they need to emphasize that he's somehow... smart? You can just do it... because you feel like you can? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that, it's just... this guy doesn't really have an interesting narrative arc, or at least, his acting and the directing or the lines they give him and what we see of him isn't very griping. It's almost as if this entire show is reliant on the twist of what Sougo will do when he confronts Oma-Zi-O for the second time after collecting the remaining Ride Watch. Like, I just feel drained watching this. Like I'm forced on this "collect them all" adventure, and it's really boring to watch, especially when some characters that do return from previous shows are entirely butchered (I'm looking at you Kenzaki), or their legacies are (Hibiki).
Geiz's actor seems capable, but I think they've given him a lot of stereotypical "I must hate the protagonist because plot demands it, now I must like him, but still maintain my passive aggressive attitude). Also, after watching the Rider Time Special Ryuki (which I think completely undid all the good Ryuki's ending did), the shot where they shopped Ren's face over Geiz's face just showed me what they thought of his character. So he's a caricature of Ren... I'm not impressed, although I did laugh at it when I first saw it, in hindsight, the creativity is really lacking.
Woz was interesting at first... now he's a comic relief. I think his actor has great charisma... they just wasted him on making Light 2.0 with White Woz... which basically served for Black Woz to get the Beyond Driver. Trinity form is so bad for trying to copy Climax form, and then linking itself to Agito Trinity as a "wink wink, see what I did?" moment, but at least it's design is better to look at than Zi-O's final form leak image. That **** is a clusterf**k.
I mean, most of my complaints are really about Rider. Beyond that, I've been able to get back into Ultraman for a bit. I liked Orb, till they turned his show into a cliché tale that's trying to hard. The opening and ending are phenomenal, if only the show did better in it's second half. I completely hated Geed outside of Zero and Belial's involvement. I didn't like the actor, and I thought the plot was so by the books it just... didn't sit well with me. R/B is a disappointment. But yeah... I'm not too excited about the next Ultra series either. How many more sons of Ultras do we need exactly? Also, I don't know if I missed it somewhere... but... how do Ultras make babies? The rate they're popping them out is like... dude, slow down now, just cause Seven got a son, now everyone's getting a son? Sure, his design looks great and all. But... I don't know, I much prefer Ultra shows that has nothing to do with the trope of "will the son ever be as great as his father?" I think this is just the mindset of people in the Asian provinces mostly. Prior to the economic crisis in 1993, I think it was that notion of my parents generation achieving greatness, and then here comes my generation... failing to even live up to anything remotely feasible despite being much more capable, having more skills, and knows how to press a simple print button on the computer. I truly think this is a driving factor to the psychology of writing about sons of great heroes. The need to establish something of your own, whilst separating from the comfort that your parents provided, at the same time comparing their achievements with yours... which only results in working on a pre-established series by the older generation and... not making anything new as a result.
I'm not much of a Sentai fan. I watched it as a kid, and have fond memories of Zyuranger, Dairanger, and my favorite was Kakuranger. But that's about it really. If any of you would like to vent, I suppose, this might be a good thread. Please just keep it civil.