JETMAN: The Empress Juza Saga - SPOILERS

[Painted_Outlaw]

The Juuza arc isn't until somewhere around 17 and 18.

I see. So, Keith is watching them out of order then. :laugh:

 

[Lynxara]

I always thought Juuza needed to hang around for a couple more episodes...

Yeah, Juuza being an arc character would've set up certain things that occur later on a bit better. Not to say what the show actually did was bad, but you could've gotten a lot more mileage out of Juuza without doing damage anywhere else, IMO.

There's a couple of other stinkers (one that's even worse than the ramen episode, IMO), and they're usually handled by the secondary writers.

Spoiler

Raita the Caveman or Tomato King?

Those would be my picks, anyway. They're goofy without being any fun or even having any sort of worthwhile point to make.

Personally, I found this arc way too short and rushed; I mean, Radiguet goes through his whole "I lost my memory, I'm falling in love, oh now my memory's back, gonna kill that girl now" in just one episode, and this was a pretty busy episode as was.

Radiguet's bout of amnesia being short is absolutely a good thing. Amnesia plots are by their very nature implausible and contrived. They are an artifice authors use to examine questions of identity in a very blunt and sometimes childishly literal fashion. An amnesia plot is only worth using if you cannot raise the question in any other way (and, to be fair, with Radiguet you probably couldn't). If you do use them, you should keep them as short as possible so you don't impose upon the audience's intelligence or good will.

Spoiler

By showing us that Radiguet's nature is absolute and not the result of his surroundings, Inoue foreshadows that Radiguet will be the final villain, because his evil far exceeds Empress Juuza's, or indeed, any member of the royal family. That's not a point improved by belaboring it.

And if Jetman were at all aware of what happened with Radiguet in that episode, Radiguet wouldn't be able to pull off his completely amazing Tranza double-cross toward the end of the series. And I don't know why you wouldn't want that happen, that moment was utterly brilliant. It makes an extremely effective point about how the traditional Super Sentai hero, as exemplified by Red Hawk, holds a hopelessly limited worldview.

And nothing really came out of him being infatuated by Kaori, other than excuse fodder for the Jetman to quarrel amongst themselves.

I'm not sure that even comes out of it.

Spoiler

The only episode I can think of that really addresses Raita's crush is Raita the Caveman, which is a filler episode written by Arakawa. Inoue never spends a lot of time on it, probably because there's nothing interesting you can say with it. Including it at all just makes Kaori feel like a dumber and more ridiculous character.

 

[live jetabare]

Amnesia plots are by their very nature implausible and contrived. They are an artifice authors use to examine questions of identity in a very blunt and sometimes childishly literal fashion. An amnesia plot is only worth using if you cannot raise the question in any other way (and, to be fair, with Radiguet you probably couldn't). If you do use them, you should keep them as short as possible so you don't impose upon the audience's intelligence or good will.

Spoiler

Dunno; the use of an amnesiac Mahoro in Abaranger was done in my opinion in a very effective way, and brought some nice character development to the character, even if that plot lasted about 5 episodes, which is pretty long.

 

[Lynxara]

Spoiler

Dunno; the use of an amnesiac Mahoro in Abaranger was done in my opinion in a very effective way, and brought some nice character development to the character, even if that plot lasted about 5 episodes, which is pretty long.

Spoiler

Based on what I know of the Mahoro/Jeanne plot, I wouldn't consider it an amnesia plot. The storytelling goals are different, and Mahoro's behavior isn't consistent with the fictional idea of amnesia.

 

[live jetabare]

Spoiler

Based on what I know of the Mahoro/Jeanne plot, I wouldn't consider it an amnesia plot. The storytelling goals are different, and Mahoro's behavior isn't consistent with the fictional idea of amnesia.

What do you mean?

 

[Berty]

What do you mean?

Spoiler

Depends on which Mahoro issue this person thinks is being discussed. Her being brainwashed into hating Asuka, or when she really did have amnesia. As it sounds like they have not seen the series, yet.

 

[Berty]

Radiguet's bout of amnesia being short is absolutely a good thing. Amnesia plots are by their very nature implausible and contrived. They are an artifice authors use to examine questions of identity in a very blunt and sometimes childishly literal fashion.

Oh boy do I agree.

Spoiler

Gaoranger made their Red amnesiac one episode, just so they could essentially repeat recruiting him as in the 1st episode. It hadn't even been that long before! I was... annoyed.

Spoiler

And if Jetman were at all aware of what happened with Radiguet in that episode, Radiguet wouldn't be able to pull off his completely amazing Tranza double-cross toward the end of the series. And I don't know why you wouldn't want that happen, that moment was utterly brilliant. It makes an extremely effective point about how the traditional Super Sentai hero, as exemplified by Red Hawk, holds a hopelessly limited worldview.

Spoiler

I didn't think so. To me, Ryu was highly suspicious of this knowing stranger, and he reacted immediately and appropriately when Radiguet restored himself. Pity Toranza was so uninformed, hahah.

How long do you think before we don't feel obligated to hide the devilish details for the unspoiled?

 

[Keith Justice]

Sooooooo.... watching those Jetman with some friends, they read the ending of that one saga differently. It wasn't *actually* the girl confronting Radiquet at the end, but it was his memory of her that appeared.

The way the scene reads, she's too still and to the point about what she thought about him. And doesn't react at all to being struck down.

Soooooo... in that one case he wasn't a cold blooded murderer.

 

[Lynxara]

Spoiler

Depends on which Mahoro issue this person thinks is being discussed. Her being brainwashed into hating Asuka, or when she really did have amnesia. As it sounds like they have not seen the series, yet.

Spoiler

I haven't, but I have had to research the plotline. Based on that research, it sounds like the Mahoro/Jeanne plot is about Mahoro developing a form of dissociative identity disorder, rather than experiencing traditional fictional amnesia. She doesn't forget that she's Mahoro, she starts behaving as essentially another person until her psychological need to do so goes away.

Spoiler

I didn't think so. To me, Ryu was highly suspicious of this knowing stranger, and he reacted immediately and appropriately when Radiguet restored himself. Pity Toranza was so uninformed, hahah.

Spoiler

That's exactly how it indicates Ryu's worldview is limited. Even when he knows to suspect Radiguet's human guise, it is impossible for him to foresee the consequences of destroying Tranza immediately. It is impossible for Ryu to understand that Radiguet is a foe until Radiguet chooses to reveal himself. Now, if Radiguet had been dealing with Gai instead? That story would've had a really different ending.

How long do you think before we don't feel obligated to hide the devilish details for the unspoiled?

Until Keith finishes Jetman, I'd say. The Abaranger stuff is just being cautious.

 

[Keith Justice]

So, anyone wanna way in on if Rad actually killed the girl or if he was merely striking down her memory?