Just started watching Shuriken Sentai Ninninger

[SaikoDragon]

I'm up to episode 17 and I really freaking love this sentai. I know we have some episodic topics going on but I didn't want to just throw this in a random discussion thread.

I have recently struggled to find interest in Tokusatsu in the same way that I used to when I first truly discovered it. But since the announcement of Power Rangers Ninja Steel, I became interested in learning more about the source material. The premise written for Ninja Steel is very different and really interesting. I wondered if it was to do with the footage or the sentai storyline, so I watched a couple of episodes. I wasn't really into it but I think around episode 3, something clicked. It just became enjoyable. Can't really put my finger on it but one of the things I love most about this season is the intense fights and the wonderful choreography. I also really like how when the villains are strong, the Ninninger become stronger to overcome the challenge without relying upon a 'super cool new power up because you believe in yourself'. Aka Ninninger really freaking took the fight to Raizo Gabi and it was exciting to watch.

 

[Black Fang]

I found Ninninger dreadful to watch. Takaharu wouldn't be half as annoying as he is if he didn't do that terrible "I'm on fire!" yell that his actor can't even say with sincerity. Grandpa's silly antics are frustrating to sit through. (Yes yes, he has reasons for being reluctant to teach, but you can express that without being a stupid clown about it. I can take a giant talking rat who lives in a sewer more seriously than him.) Taka and Fuuka's father is little better; I won't spoil his backstory, but I don't really care for it. Then we have Kinji and him trying to kill people being treated as a complete joke. As for the villains, they really feel like a poor man's Gedoushu. The bosses look nice, but the Yokai are just boring. They're nothing like the Yokai in Kakuranger, who were some of the most fun villains in the entire series.

Simply put, this isn't what I wanted to see out a family ninja Sentai. However, I do plan to get through it once it's completed just for the crossovers, particularly with Jiraiya. At least the show has some nice music.

 

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, I'm glad you are enjoying it, I just do not know how though. I'm up to 40 and I think it is atrocious. The only reason I'm going to finish it because I'm going to review it.

 

[Solari]

There are some good episodes and the actors do improve over the year.
Overall, it is a very episodiac series.

 

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

This show is a lot like Kyoryuger for me. I totally get why people would like it, even if I'm not crazy for it. It does have a certain energy to it, unlike the lifeless ToQger or Go-Busters. The actors look like they're having fun in their parts, and the crossover episodes have been really solid (save for the Magiranger "episode". That one was creepy and the cameo felt shoehorned in). I'm definitely not hate-watching it, even though there's a lot that I wish was better executed (Takaharu just being insufferable, Fuuka's utter lack of character focus, the villains are poorly developed).

 

[Herman the Tosser]

Takaharu probably wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't red.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

The biggest problem I have with the series is the cast. Shunsuke Nishikawa isn't the best actor and because of that I never feel any sincerity in Takaraharu as a character, it really feels like the guy just doesn't want to be there. The rest of the cast range from mediocre to decent, Yuuka Yano and Hideya Tawada are my favorite cast members and I think they're just "okay" as things stand. A better cast would absolutely elevate this series in my eyes, but it still wouldn't be a perfect one. Most of the characters don't have any substantial personality, they're really just archetypes, so their actors wouldn't have a lot to work with in the first place. Give these shallow characters weak actors and you've got a weak show on your hands.

Ninninger has a ton of interesting plot treads running throughout - you've got Kinji's past, Kyuuemon, the Last Ninja competition, Takaharu and Fuuka's dad having his Nintality stolen, a lot of stuff that could be super interesting if it was utilized more. Ninninger feels like a show that forgets it has all of these cool little stories hanging around just waiting for it to do something with, often pushing them to slight conversations and at the beginning and end of episodes. When the show's on point, it is freaking on point. I loved Kinji's entire character arc, it's the best executed in the entire series. If everything else were as well done as the things revolving around his character, Ninninger would be a fantastic series.

As it stands, I don't outright dislike the show, I actively follow it and think it's okay, but there are too many moments in where I ask myself why story X isn't being touched upon in favor of yet another filler. The Last Ninja thing sounded super cool at the start of the show and it ended up taking a backseat throughout most of the series, I rarely ever felt the characters were actually in competition with each other.

Personally, I put the blame on two people: the producer, Naomi Takebe, and the writer, Kento Shimoyama. I want to be more lenient towards Shimoyama because this is the guy's first series as a head writer, he's not had a lot of big episodes in the past, but I feel like Takebe threw a lot of these interesting plots at him and he just doesn't know what to do with him. As a Rider producer, Takebe is pretty on point, most of the time, but she tries to go too big with Sentai and, at least with Ninninger, doesn't get the writer that could make the show a strong one. I personally think this is the last time we're going to see Takebe as a producer on a Sentai series for a while. We're already seeing Toei rotate new producers into the mix and I would be just fine with Takebe sticking to Rider where it seems like she and her writers are allowed to push things from time to time and be more serialized in a way Sentai doesn't seem to allow for at the moment.

 

[Dr Kain]

This show is a lot like Kyoryuger for me. I totally get why people would like it, even if I'm not crazy for it. It does have a certain energy to it, unlike the lifeless ToQger or Go-Busters. The actors look like they're having fun in their parts, and the crossover episodes have been really solid (save for the Magiranger "episode". That one was creepy and the cameo felt shoehorned in). I'm definitely not hate-watching it, even though there's a lot that I wish was better executed (Takaharu just being insufferable, Fuuka's utter lack of character focus, the villains are poorly developed).

You know, for as bad as Go-Busters was, at least it tried to do something new with the franchise. Kyoryu-Nin have just been Shinkenger all over again.

 

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

You know, for as bad as Go-Busters was, at least it tried to do something new with the franchise. Kyoryu-Nin have just been Shinkenger all over again.

What exactly did it do that was new? The bad guys from cyberspace? Megaranger did it. The dead parents? Fiveman did it. The talking animal partners? Abaranger and Go-Onger did it. No, the only thing Go-Busters brought to the table was new material that the suits were made out of. Aside from that, it is one of the most uninspired Super Sentai out there. It cobbled together all of these older ideas in a combination of ideas never seen before, but they didn't equal a cohesive whole.

 

[SaikoDragon]

Takaharu wouldn't be half as annoying as he is if he didn't do that terrible "I'm on fire!" yell that his actor can't even say with sincerity.

I think it's funny. Reminds me of Ban from Dekaranger