Good Sentai/Bad Sentai: What makes you love/hate a sentai?

[KingRanger]

I've seen this done with anime, actually. It's rare, but certainly possible. It seems most likely to happen when the production team is allowed to pre-plan the show carefully, outlining a little bit of plot movement into each episode so the story is a slow build.

This isn't necessarily better than having a blend of brisker plot episodes and standalone filler eps, though. It's just another approach to storytelling that is certainly possible within the format. Perhaps it's not one Toei's writers want to use, or have the time to use.

It's so they can fill out a season while at the same time selling toys.

 

[Nanami Tenkawa]

PROS:

- well-surprised improving character development between heroes and villains.
- surprise attacks event. if depends the course of action will do well. (Kakuranger had happened quite much)
- villains were truly dangerous and threat to the heroes.
- female Red or Purple ranger in the show! i'm mean business! (Shiba Kaoru)
- balancing the mecha gattai experiment. (example Zyutei Daizyujin or Bio Robo)
- the death of ranger event. (TimeFire's or Kiranger's death)
- plus good happy ending not kiddy type ending.
- a bit less comedic

CONS:

- clusterfucked mechas make look slow or not so reliable! in other words hate super-multipled gattai mechas over than 7 mechas!
- lack of plotline story
- many pretty boy face heroes (like ShinkenGreen, Dekabreak or Ninja Yellow)
- too quick fights especially when comes henshined battles
- plot twists

 

[KingRanger]

You consider plot twists as a negative. That's just nuts. So you prefer straight forward, no surprises, and boring shows?

 

[Nanami Tenkawa]

You consider plot twists as a negative. That's just nuts. So you prefer straight forward, no surprises, and boring shows?

uh yes. especially in old Showa Era in Super Sentai. plot twists not appeal to me. i did remember what happened during watched Kamen Rider shows like Den-O and others. X.x

 

[KingRanger]

uh yes. especially in old Showa Era in Super Sentai. plot twists not appeal to me. i did remember what happened during watched Kamen Rider shows like Den-O and others. X.x

Wow talk about boring. So you would prefer the shows be like this:

Heroes fight the villains
Villains lose
end of the series?

 

[Tao Zanto]

Hard to say, since everyone above me put in very excellent likes and dislikes!

Likes:
An adult series, both in theme and actors! I prefer my rangers for the most part to at least appear as if they have passed through their Coming Of Age day when they turn 20 and are legal adults. Of course one can have the exceptions like Boy in Zyuranger, the entire Megaranger [still in high school], or Hikaru in Gingaman.

Foot soldiers who can do more than merely fight and get killed off on cue. Like drive the Suzuki Samurai jeep or its modern equivalent, do tasks like mix the evil lab formula that a general will then take credit for, and have speaking lines. And perhaps survive to the next battle.

Actors who look like they can do their own stunts. I know in the early days the lead actors were often members of the JAC and a few were in-suit as well as being the face. While it would be a shot in the arm for Toei to do a modern series with JAC/JAE members as the face actors, until the producers get out of their current creative box it'll likely never happen again.

Dogs. For some reason, whenever there's a dog in a super sentai or toku, it's always cool; especially if they have speaking lines. Denzi Dog. Doggie Kruger. The skateboarding dog in Liveman. Springer from Metalder.

Dislikes:
Well... the opposites of the above! Kids in Super Sentai are a time honored tradition, and I sometimes wonder if any of the kids in these shows ever grow up to become actors in toku. But there is a place for kids in any super sentai, and it's not to be the team leader or Red Ranger. Ever.

[except if the story calls for it...]

Lame foot soldiers. While I don't remember ever seeing super sentai grunts be as lame as MMPR Putties who show up just to warm up the rangers before the real fight against the monster, armies who show up just to get their asses kicked gets pretty dull after a while without them doing something a little different to relieve the monotony, like the occasional motorcycle stunt in the Toei quarry.

Actors who have "Kick Me" signs on their backs. The entire cast of Goseiger comes to mind.

Cats.

[just kidding -- I like cats... but after seeing Goseiger I just might have to check out Gekiranger which I originally despised!]

 

[Lynxara]

It's so they can fill out a season while at the same time selling toys.

Super Sentai used that writing style even in older series that weren't really selling painful amounts of toys.

 

[KingRanger]

Super Sentai used that writing style even in older series that weren't really selling painful amounts of toys.

Yeah and it worked. They have the intro eps. Then they have a few character eps. Then they do a new power ep or an ep about something else new. Then a little arc or something similar. It repeats. In the older series, for me it's up to the 90's, I loved all the aspects of the shows. Filler or not it was fun. Go-onger, shinkenger, and now Goseiger are just not very good IMO. I think the only shows of the 00's that I really loved were Hurricaneger and Magiranger. Geki was ok, but mostly for the villains.

 

[lazycoconut]

When characters aren't so PERFECT SUPER DEE DUPER that they act like assholes to everyone else.

I personally don't mind "asshole" characters so much. When it gets bad is when we're expected to automatically forgive anything he does because he's ShinkenRed and he's the all-powerful Red Ranger hero, or he's GaoSilver and he's the angsty pretty boy, etc. etc. (the show's pet character, in other words)

- many pretty boy face heroes (like ShinkenGreen, Dekabreak or Ninja Yellow)

Was Ninja Yellow that bad? Blue was supposed to be the girly one :sweat:

I distinctly remember someone saying on some thread that it's a shame we don't get any more series like Kakuranger or Gingaman where the heroes look like ordinary country kids - these days they're all polished supermodel types. If a new Sentai went back to that style it would win big bonus points with me :coolshades:

 

[Red Sky Ranger]

Shinkenger was ok, but it was so badly handled. Hell, even Zyuranger was trying to tell a story.