Dude. Dude! DUDE!
HER COLOR IS PURPLE. THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER BEHELD.
Well, the suit, that is. The show is more middling.
[HIDE]*ahem* So, blitzing through B-Fighter Kabuto's first four episodes to catch up. I was really sick for most of the week and in no state to focus on untranslated dialog.
I can see why people are so disappointed with the show's first few episodes. There's no surprises or beats of drama to them, the new team's reveal is very much a rehash of the old team's A lot of the high energy that made B-Fighter really fun to watch isn't here, though I imagine it returns later on.
Kouhei is... ugh, typical of a short-lived trend in teen protagonists at the time. His horrible voice is hugely reminiscent of Wataru Takagi's ear-damaging turn as Garrod Ran in Gundam X, which ran alongside B-Fighter Kabuto as a 1996 series. I'd love to know what these guys are imitating, because they're clearly trying to copy
somebody with a similar voice who got popular.
As a character, he's fine, but the actor playing him lacks the charisma to get away with such an utterly simple personality. He reminds me a lot of what Megaranger would do next year with Kenta Date, only if someone told Kenta he had to take himself so seriously that he is never even the least bit charming. Kengo also reminds me a lot of Megasilver if he was similarly charmless and stiff.
I do think making the lead a high school kid was a mistake if the entire team weren't going to be teenagers, though. Kohei can't have the sense of professional comradery with the other two heroes that his predecessor could. It's just hard for a teenager to be shown having non-awkward relationships with adults that much older than him. You can't really do sempai/kohai with supporting cast and your main character. Megaranger only got away with it by exploiting the peculiar nature of the sixth ranger's role in Sentai.
I watched B-Fighter mainly for the heroines (and glorious Schwartz) and Ran is no disappointment in that department. It's like Japan decided that someone needed to make my self-insertion for me. Yes, sure, she's a little bland, but
she goes out and kicks ass in her sexy purple armor when she's not surrounded by her fans at the arcade.
I can get my power fantasy on to this in a very direct way that happens a lot less often than I'd like with modern shows. Of all the things for Heisei Rider to leave behind when it raided Metal Hero, why was it the asskicking lady sidekicks? Sure, you occasionally get a Satonaka, but wouldn't you rather have a Satonaka around
all the time?
I can't even the dude in black's name. That's all I have to say about him for now. Well, his armor's pretty sweet, I guess I can say that.
I'm not sure how I feel about Kabuto's villains. They're almost comically generic and that's saying something given the dudes who hung around in B-Fighter. I do like that Mother Melzard lays monster eggs, though the effect makes it look a bit like she just craps out Monsters of the Week. Giving the three generals a more sensible theme is... well, sensible, but the actual characters are a lot less fun than Jaohm's madcap goons. Cool designs abound, though, I could almost watch this show just for the MotW suits.
I really liked the miniature work for the mecha sequences in B-Fighter and Kabuto doesn't disappoint in this regard. They're one of the few things completely improved from the first series, as there's clearly a bigger budget for both constructing the models and shooting them in action.
The actual episode plots are... uh... yeah. The first two episodes are just dull. The third episode involves the Melzard trying to destroy the Internet circa 1996, which is... I dunno, it feels like the punchline of a Webcomic. Ran's hacking sequences this episode are such classic cheese it's almost charming. The fourth episode is a bit generic but it's getting enjoyable, even if it highlights the problems with the show's cast. [/HIDE]
