Samurai Sentai Shinkenger - Talk Up!

[lazycoconut]

Post-post-modernism? :disappoin

But by those standards Mako would be considered too "outspoken" and "independent" (she once had a job! Gasp!) I know that back when the series first started we had someone whining on about the fact that a woman would not have been called a samurai at all, so you can't put Toei's rampant misogyny down to a drive for historical accuracy ...

 

[MattComix]

Your thoughts about fighting would contribute more to the script of the next Saw movie, rather than a children's series like Super Sentai.

I was thinking more along the lines of a Sentai team made up entirely of militant Vulcans based on gems from her like "unnecessary emotional attachment". Because you know, having emotions never helps Sentai heroes in a fight. :laugh:

But oh well, that's our lazykook.

 

[PyroturtleZX]

However that would make for an interesting character somewhere along the line. He/she would be quite the asshole but interesting nevertheless.

 

[waterballoon]

I was thinking more along the lines of a Sentai team made up entirely of militant Vulcans based on gems from her like "unnecessary emotional attachment". Because you know, having emotions never helps Sentai heroes in a fight. :laugh:

But oh well, that's our lazykook.

:laugh: that could work for one character, but for an entire team... whoa way too much, but I guess that's how they be truly "strong"!

Post-post-modernism? :disappoin

But by those standards Mako would be considered too "outspoken" and "independent" (she once had a job! Gasp!) I know that back when the series first started we had someone whining on about the fact that a woman would not have been called a samurai at all, so you can't put Toei's rampant misogyny down to a drive for historical accuracy ...

Well, no matter what, a Sentai team has to have at least one female. Maybe the theme this time around was a little touchy since there are a lot of gender inequality issues, but we're already in an era where independent women are acceptable, or rather, a norm already, so?

It's not like they tried to totally push feminism into the series; back in the first episode, when Ryunnosuke mistakenly thought Mako was the Lord, his face was more like "what the fook" than "whoa a female Lord!", I think this has sort of set a tone; moreover with the female ShinkenRed coming up, who would be a Lord too, it would be interesting to see what are the views from the others... especially Ryunnosuke; he's the most traditional one out of all of them, so...

 

[Black Fang]

Funny how the traditional one has crazy dyed hair and dresses like a would-be golfer :loltongue:

 

[Lynxara]

Lightening your hair is a pretty mainstream thing to do in Japan right now, so is Ryuunosuke's preppy style of dress.

If Ryuu's hair was dyed a "shocking" color like blond or if he was dressing like Chiaki it'd be one thing, but no, he's pretty plausible as a modern super-dutiful person. (If anything, I find Takeru's style of dress kind of implausible.)

If Toei was really engaging in "rampant misogyny", they just would've excised female characters from the show entirely or would've portrayed them in ways that couldn't pass the Bechdel test. Neither case is true.

You can argue that Shinkenger is disappointingly less progressive than it could be, but once you whip out "misogyny" you're proving that you don't know what the word means (and have probably never experienced it personally).

 

[coco]

1. The fake wedding - Episode 8. I definitely think it looked like foreshadowing of some sort
2. End of Episode 6 where she tries to ask why the Ayakashi called him a liar. It was trying to establish "chemistry" between them and show that Mako can read Takeru well, and was the episode where several people started shipping Takeru/Mako
3. The whole of episode 39.
4. Any episode where she suddenly goes up to him to say something "wise" e.g. end of episode 23, she warns Takeru that Chiaki might surpass him one day. Episode 18 where they spar and she advises him to accept Genta. There are others and if you really want me to look them up, I will. She is actually being flirty during some of these moments as well.
5. Takeru insisting on taking Mako with him when they fight - eps 39, 42 and 43, some of the earlier ones too

I believe it will happen too

 

[Lynxara]

I don't buy the fake wedding. That's a recurring Super Sentai trope that's been used in a lot of series with absolutely no subtext or romantic payoff whatsoever.

(I can't even think of why else Shinkenger bothered to do the episode-- Dayuu's behavior in it made no goddamn sense compared to her behavior in pretty much every other episode in the series.)

The other stuff is, eh, tenuous, but I can sort of see it... except episode 39. Takeru and Mako's interactions there were really clearly not personal, Mako was speaking purely from her position as one of the vassal rangers. Any other Shinkenger could've said the same essentially the same lines to Takeru in the exact same way.

 

[bue52]

Just saw episode 43 subbed. I think it answers a number of questions to what some of the other forumers are talking about. Overall, I think it was a really cool episode.

to lazycoconut: I don't see any logical link between being an effective warrior/soldier and being an effective house husband/wife. One can be both, but it is true that it is a very difficult thing to juggle together. Which is precisely why she stopped doing any of the household stuff throughout the series. The scenes where we see her cooking are there to depict 2 main things, that firstly the Shinkengers are in a time of temporary peace, that time has passed between the previous episode and the current episode, that the gedoushuu are not constantly attack.

(If they were, then there would be barely any time for the reconstruction of buildings, and realistically, many people would migrate to other countries. So by doing a small scene of Mako cooking, of Genta selling sushi, Chiaki playing in the Arcade, even Ryunosuke's daily training, show us that the Japan is still surviving, that this is NOT a post-apocalyptic world where the gedoushuu can randomly come out and massacre everyone. They can, but they don't)

The second reason, I believe for such scenes is to show that the Shinkengers are in fact normal human beings, what makes them unique is that they have a legacy to uphold. And that they CHOOSE to be a samurai even though Takeru gives them the option not to. But that doesn't mean they cannot pursue their own interest.

On another note, I think there is a misinterpretation of what intelligence and education means. While I agree with the statement you made about how women in the past may not have the chance to be educated, but that does not mean they cannot be intelligent. Intelligence is simplistically, just brain power, however, there many parts of the brain, and hence there are people who may be equally intelligent, but completely talented in different areas. A true genius is one who can cover both breadth and depth. I see it as a big ambition to be a warrior, and a housewife.

 

[KamenRiderRaseru]

3) The whole of episode 22 for Kotoha and Takeru. The whole of episode 3 (was it?) for Mako and Ryunnosuke. The whole of episode 19 (or was it 17?) for Mako and Chiaki. Little nuances along the the earlier episodes for Chiaki and Kotoha. Wow it looks like the whole cast of Shinkenger are gonna have mass orgy on the last episode.

I thought the Take-Kotoha/Chiaki-Mako eps were already established as Brother-Sister/Sister-Brother episodes?