Tsugami Shoichi or Godai Yusuke

[Sage Shinigami]

Notice there's no vs., because this isn't really a versus thread. I just notice that these two characters have a whole lot in common and wondered who do posters think is the cooler character/hero. (If people start to turn this into Kuuga vs. Agito thread I will send both of them to your house and have them Rider Kick you in the groin. )

Anyways, of the two, I think Godai's a bit better. Shouichi is just as nice of a guy I guess, but he seems to overdo it and comes off as annoying sometimes. Both of them are the last of the angsty heroes until Hibiki (I think, I've never seen it, I KNOW Tendou's not angsty), but I think Godai knows just what to do and say and is more of a nice guy because that's the way his character is, as opposed to being a nice guy for comedic effect.

What's everyone else think? (And let's see if we can avoid spoilers in this thread, too.)

 

[rambo]

defently kuuga even thou ive only seen 4 eps of kuuga and 9 of agito
which were both downloads godai seems better

 

[MattComix]

I've noticed the similarties myself. Still, it's no contest, IMO.

I gotta go with Godai Yuuske. I just thought he was a much, much better character overall. He was opitmisitc but not totally invunerable to having a negative thought or emotion. But he chooses to rise above that and strive for something better in order to protect not only people lives, but their capacity to find joy. ..and even though he was a very peaceful person, I could also believe this guy was capable of handleing himself in a fight. Besides, at least a couple of those 2000 skills have to be martial arts. Godai just seemed to be a more sincere and less forced character to me. :thumbs:

Not to say that Shouichi isn't a good person and hero, but his character as written is actually one of the things I didn't like about Agito and a big reason why I found myself wishing it was G3 or Gills show.

I felt like his character was so silly to a degree where I honestly had trouble imagining that he and Agito were at all the same person. Now, I know some of that stark contrast was intentional. Sort of like Clark Kent/Superman in a way. Who would believe the clutzy wallflower is the Man of Steel, right? Or the wacky housewife guy playing with his vegetables is the mighty Agito?

But it felt less like he henshined and more like he summoned the stuntman. I just could not believe for a second that this guy could be effective. Henshin powers or not. It also often seemed to me like he was created to pander to the housewife demographic.

There were however times where I would find myself liking his scenes so I guess that helped me to enjoy the show even when I was wishing for much more camera time to go to G3 and Gills.

 

[Bolt]

I like Godai better. He was goofy and a little more optimistic than normal, but he was still realistic enough and was genuinely a good person. There's nothing wrong with Shoichi, he just seemed like a caricature of Godai anyway.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Shoichi...seemed like a caricature of Godai anyway.

See, I always thought Shouichi was the Godai character done properly. I still like Godai and Kuuga (the second best new-gen show), but the character stayed at pretty much one level throughout the series and Odagiri started playing him like a less-than-intelligent kid. Shouichi was as perfect as one could be, but he still had some flaws and mysteries about him and, while he liked playing the jester, I never thought he was stupid.

They went too extreme with how "perfect" Godai was and everybody just loooooved him so damn much, it often made the show feel like an overly sweet Brady Bunch episode. Sure, it tickles the heart to hear, a million times, Godai "fights for smiles," but take that away from him, and you really don't have much, do you? (Not to mention he ripped that line off a lyric in the Flashman opening theme!) I thought Shouichi had many more layers than Godai, he grew. Still, a Shouichi and Godai team-up would have been fun to see...I picture it like a lighter Zubat, where they just try to one-up each other in multiple tasks.

The next debate...Kenji Tominaga as Kuuga or Seiji Takaiwa as Agito?

 

[Bolt]

Tominaga! Not only could he really move, he also made it feel like there was a person under all that armor (or... character) and not just a stuntguy. I did like the way Takaiwa added the subtle stuff like the kind of kobudo footwork and stance in Agito though, not to mention the way he handled the weaponswork. I don't think I know of any of Tominaga's other suited roles (if he ever did anything else in the Tokusatsu field), but I haven't seen that kind of work, from anybody, since.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

To me, the difference between Shoichi and Godai was decided in Agito's first episode. (Even though I'm up to the point where Shoichi got his memory back.) Shoichi's first appearance, where he delivers that book or those papers (I forget which) to Mana's uncle and says he'll be cooking again and he replies: "....I'll be eating out tonight" with this look on his face like Shoichi's a real bother. Sure he doesn't act like that for the rest of the series but Godai pretty much never had a moment where people felt like he was a bother, while Tsugami had quite a few.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Shoichi's first appearance, where he delivers that book or those papers (I forget which) to Mana's uncle and says he'll be cooking again and he replies: "....I'll be eating out tonight" with this look on his face like Shoichi's a real bother.

I don't think Shouichi was bothering him there, I think the reaction meant that (amnesiac) Shouichi didn't cook well. In those earlier episodes, there were always cracks made by the family about how poorly his food tasted until he took classes and then had his memory return where he made that awesome feast. :laugh:

That's not to say that Shouichi didn't bother some of the other characters, though -- he did. And that's another reason why I think he's an improvement of the "Godai mold." With how ultra realistic Kuuga aimed to be, with those exhausted cops and doctors, there would certainly be someone who would be agitated by a personality like Godai's, it would be overwhelming and grating after a certain point. But, nope, everybody just loved him and dropped their work to get in on all of the thumbs-up and 2,001 tricks insanity whenever he came by.

Godai and Shouichi are similar in that they want to force their happy thinking onto people and force them to be on their page, but everybody took too kindly to Godai while there were instances where they'd reject Shouichi's ideals -- even if they came to know and like Shouichi and be more attuned to his ways, it seemed much more natural how they were absorbed into the wacky world that is Shouichi and grew close to him. I found it to be too much for every single character in Kuuga to welcome Godai with open arms. I felt some should (and would) have rejected Godai, if not Kuuga...

I don't think I know of any of Tominaga's other suited roles (if he ever did anything else in the Tokusatsu field)

Kuuga was his only tokusatsu work. :disappoin I don't think I could pick one over the other, honestly -- they're both different sorts of awesome. And (ironically, as we discuss the similarities of Godai and Shouichi themselves) the roles called for differences; with the realistic feel of Kuuga, Tominaga's natural and "regular" performance suited Kuuga. Letting loose of reality a tad, Takaiwa was able to make Agito more fantastic, a rock 'n roll samurai, so I can't really compare them.

If I didn't know better, I would say someone else played Agito -- I don't think Takaiwa's ever been as good before or since.

 

[MattComix]

There were plenty of moments where people felt like Godai was a bother or at the very least strange. When he met Ichijo, he thought Godai was nothing but a reckless idiot. For some, like Ichijo Godai had to grow on them a little. The doctors first reaction to him was to ask Ichijo if he was retarted or something. The artist didn't really seem to like him much either until Godai commented on the peice he was going to submit to that company.

I always felt that the cops were so dreadily accepting because they knew he was Kuuga and Kuuga had saved their own and so many other lives. For awhile they didn't know if Kuuga was really on their side or just another one of the creatures who might try to kill them. but then he turns out to be this really nice, funny, and helpful dude.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

There were plenty of moments where people felt like Godai was a bother or at the very least strange. When he met Ichijo, he thought Godai was nothing but a reckless idiot. For some, like Ichijo Godai had to grow on them a little. The doctors first reaction to him was to ask Ichijo if he was retarted or something. The artist didn't really seem to like him much either until Godai commented on the peice he was going to submit to that company.

I always felt that the cops were so dreadily accepting because they knew he was Kuuga and Kuuga had saved their own and so many other lives. For awhile they didn't know if Kuuga was really on their side or just another one of the creatures who might try to kill them. but then he turns out to be this really nice, funny, and helpful dude.

Well Ichijou sort of got on Godai's side after that kick-ass second episode where he realized Godai really was serious about protecting people and not some idiot who would just do the job until it bored him or until his life was seriously in danger.

To me it wasn't that people thought he was annoying, just that he was sort of odd. And he never really forced his ideals on people, it was just that his attitude was so fun and infectious (and its easier, or at least more fun, to take his attitude than to be all serious all the time) that he grew on people.