Black Ranger Battle: Final Round! Black Condor vs Ninja Black!

[live jetabare]

Sure, that's stuff that gives the character a shock appeal considering the type of show he's in, but there's a lot more to Gai than that that I find appealing. Even without that stuff, he's still an edgy, different kind of character for Super Sentai. Sentai had already had a couple of characters who were reluctant heroes, but Gai takes it to a whole other level and...well, he's an interesting contrast to the stock type of heroes who are always presented as flawless.

Gai screws up. He can be selfish, he can be an asshole, he can be bullheaded. But deep down, he's a good guy, he has a sense of justice, a code of honor. He shows that every hero doesn't need to be a hero who emptily spouts "Guts! Seigi! Heiwa o mamoru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He's a real '90s character in how he's supposed to be a hip character who comments on that tired, traditional type of hero -- by going against and hating everything Ryu, who is that type of hero, stands for. He's initially cynical and isolated, but there's a growth to the character where he's made a better person by the series' end. There's a sense of redemption for Gai. He's just a really interesting character, played by a great actor who really brings him to life and keeps him from falling into areas of unlikability. There are layers to his character, and I think he has a heck of a lot more going on for him than a character like Jiraiya.

And that's exactly why I'm still a Gai fan
That said, Ryu is more than "exactly that type of hero"; even if he always says that "we're warriors of justice", deep down, he's a broken man who's lost his fiancee, and who is at least as much driven by a sense of revenge (even if he would never admit it) and a faint hope to save his lover; that's why episodes 31 and 32 of Jetman are so compelling, because when Ryu finds out that Rie is Maria, he completely loses it, the "selfless hero" guise he always shows disappears, and he falls into madness; in a weird (but awesome) paradox, it's Gai himself who has to remind him of the fact he's a hero. After all, when Gai asks him "do you think everyone wants to fight? we have a life, we have dreams", Ryu could have answered him "I've lost all my dreams; fighting is all I've left".

 

[lazycoconut]

I voted for Jiraiya because I genuinely like him. I'm very fond of Kakuranger overall, and I hope it will eventually be subbed (although oddly, I've encountered a few Shinkenger fans who watched it raw after Tori Matsuzaka said he enjoyed Kakuranger when he was a child)

I have never enjoyed "flawed" heroes of the type described above. I think a character can be written as flawed without selfishness or arrogance. I don't find Ryu-type heroes empty or hollow; and "edgy" characters being presented as heroes are almost offensive to my personal morality. That's why, although I like Gai and find him a well done character, I can't in all conscience vote for him as the best Black Ranger. Sorry, Gai. I might however have voted for him over a character like Black Mask, who I like but had little background or personality.

 

[Guardian07]

With my favourite Black out, I don't know if I want to vote.

It's a real shame I haven't watched Kakuranger yet. Though I liked Gai, I want to know Jiraiya first before I decide which I think is the better Black.

 

[Lynxara]

Just a note: we're in the last 24 hours of the poll. If you want to cast a vote in the finals and influence the outcome, this is your last chance to do it.

Hey, now -- Condor is played in-suit by Naoki friggin' Oofuji, who's pretty much always good and cool in-suit.

Oofuji does great suit acting as Gai, but a lot of that suit acting is emoting a guy who gets his ass kicked. I mean, I think that's part of what's good about the character, and Oofuji does a really good job of that. Still,with the way Jetman directed its fights, it was very difficult to get clear "glamour shot" caps of Black Condor (at least in the run of eps I had handy).

If this was a blue ranger battle, would you deny Ninjaman? :loltongue:

That's an interesting question. My gut feeling is that Ninjaman probably shouldn't count as a blue, since Kakuranger has a traditional Blue on the team already. There's no Ginga Black, though, and Hyuga's name includes a color reference, so it seemed reasonable to count him as the team's Black. I admit, I didn't expect him to make it so far through the brackets, though.

It was actually pretty hard figuring out what to do with characters like Ninjaman, Signalman, and Dekamaster that aren't defined primarily by a color in any way. I wonder if you'd have enough characters of that sort to do a Heroes of No Particular Color battle? Who qualified and who wouldn't would be pretty debatable, but it could still be fun.

 

[MattComix]

He shows that every hero doesn't need to be a hero who emptily spouts "Guts! Seigi! Heiwa o mamoru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He's a real '90s character in how he's supposed to be a hip character who comments on that tired, traditional type of hero.

Viewing heroism as something to be mocked is tired and empty. The idea of being an asshole is kewl is tired and empty. Matter of fact at this point it's the biggest goddamn cliche in modern entertainment and something that I find tokusatsu to be a refreshing alternative to.

I agree that not every hero needs to be Superman or Captain America or RedHawk. I like Gai as a character and I even enjoy his butting heads with Ryu and the rest of the team. ..but I also see nothing so terrible about "Seigi! Heiwa o mamoru!" What I enjoy about Gai is not as some pisstake on the idea of a traditional hero bur rather that he's a loser and a selfish ass who learns to think beyond himself. He eventually comes to value his fellow Jetman as people and as friends. Ryu included.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Viewing heroism as something to be mocked is tired and empty. The idea of being an asshole is kewl is tired and empty. Matter of fact at this point it's the biggest goddamn cliche in modern entertainment and something that I find tokusatsu to be a refreshing alternative to.

But was it "tired" and "empty" in 1991? I think what Inoue was doing with Gai was pretty in-the-moment for a Japanese show considering it was just in the late '80s that that sort of thing became the trend with American superheroes -- look how way behind tokusatsu can be in following trends at times.

And, hey, I'm not saying I'd want every superhero to be written like Gai, but I think it's something that really worked with Jetman's set-up in how Inoue tried hard to highlight just how different these people were supposed to be from not only each other but from the usual kind of superhero seen in these shows.

 

[Lynxara]

The tournament has come to an end and Gai Yuuki emerges as HJU's Favorite Black Ranger. While hardly an unpredictable result, it's still a bittersweet victory. Voter turnout was fairly low compared to the semifinals, where Gai and Jiraiya's match-up was more competitive. That probably says something, but it's beyond me to guess at exactly what.

For now, I'll just thank everyone who participated. I had fun with this, and I hope everyone else did, too.