K
Kamen Rider IXA
Guest
Doubt it. Shinkenger was just few years away, even ratings weren't that bad yet. Toei just grasped the idea behind barrel full of Ranger Key money. I think they just wanted to wrap up and celebrate previous era or the show, before moving into new waters and updating it for modern audience with Go-Busters. I mean, we know how it all ended, but the intent to go on was clearly there.I kinda feel like, in Toei's heart, they wanted it to be the last one.
He did have some good moments near the end of the show as well. Honestly, I think I prefer post-retool Hiromu in general. Some of his issues also have to do with show not really pushing him to be at the center of things... and still making him more important than his comrades. He's just kinda there for so much of the season and I struggled to care about his paper-thin development since he has so little presence. In contrast with Enter it's clear more than ever. I also think that Go-Busters needed a more stoic classic Red. Everyone from the cast would have benefited from someone who pushed them to their limits and helped team to work out their issues (I don't know what exactly Kuroki was, but sure as hell aren't that). Hiromu would have been great as a "comptent kid with issues" of the series, maybe rising to leadership gradually.I think Katsuhiro Suzuki was pretty cool in Kyoryuger VS Go-busters, though, so I think his problem was that he was JUST a little too young at the time of the show.
I don't see any effort at all. Mangetsu Kibaoni's "I was pretended to be stupid"(I can't believe someone actually wrote this and thought it was a good idea) to give a lazy justification to a few unfunny jokes before completely changing the character (and the worst thing is that Ariake no Kata was easily the most entertaining villian after Kyuemon and she stuck with this little **** for thr rest of her life) , Gengetsu coming back for like 2 episodes after all that hype and ending up the most boring and underwhelming main villian in the Sentai history (seriously, I'll take dozens of Don Armages and that dude from the end of Kyoryuger over this Dokoku-wannabe), Raizo's back and he's just as pointless and useless as ever (and dies almost instantly again). Kyuemon storyline is rushed as hell and goes to **** frankly, since his cunning aspect is gone now and not much remains to the character (and don't get me started on how stupid his "redemption" was handled) and the "emotional" Grandad twist which was beyond stupid. I like that show tried to develop Kasumi (something that should have happen 30 episodes ago), but it was already too late by that point.And I disagree about the end, I feel like the show started actually trying in its final episodes. I thought Gengetsu's son was a pretty fun and different kind of villain.
Ninninger in itself isn't purely an awful show, but last strech of episodes definitely is. This is where all their issues come to bite them in the ass and that finale is just a travesty.
Even Go-Busters recognized that Enter is by far the best thing they have and made him into main villian. Ninnin really needed to either make Kyuemon main villian as well or go with Midoninger route in the last quarter of the show (and not in shitty Returns movie). Either way would have been better than that we got.
I think little character moments are what makes Toqger cast so good. Moments like them deciding that there is no real leader in their team, because everyone in some way is. Moments like Toqger graduation and Akira watching team for 10 years without them able to see him in Returns movie. Or when Raito is ready to sacrifice his own future for his friends. That's what I like about Toqger team. Despite how they bahave, they ARE the heroes and ready to do what's necessary. And the twist gives even more weight to this.The show had interesting ideas, but was just content to ride on autopilot. The only cast member I didn't like was Tokkachi, who I thought acted far more cartoony than the show was going for. They didn't put the theme of imagination to great use, they didn't take full advantage of...what the twist with the heroes was. I liked the idea that the heroes were piecing together their memories, but the show didn't seem mapped out enough to make that have the full impact.
It could have been a bit bolder and I do think show can get a bit too straightforward at times and not every character moment lands, but I still think plenty of them do.
It's one of the very few kid-centred shows I actually like.
Zyuohger also have a benefit of having a good soundtrack. Goseiger were incredibly generic in almost every single way until middle or so, but Zyuoh at least have energetic music. When that mystic-y Zyuland song starts to play, it makes show seems way more exciting than it actually is. And consideing how often song plays, it helps a lot, IMO. I also think villians were fine, even if they didn't do much for the majority of the series. I take Ginis, Azald and Quval over first two Goseiger groupes of baddies.There's worse casts out there, there's dumber storylines. But I guess it was just the nothingness of the show. It really reminds me of Goseiger.
My biggest issue with Zyuohger is that it easily could have been a 26-episode show. It would be a fine short series, but there is just not enough material there for a full 50-eps one.