Top 22 Episodes of Mahou Sentai Magiranger

In honor of the year of Kamen Rider Wizard, I have decided to do an analysis of Mahou Sentai Magiranger.

1. 33. Toward the Infershia ~Maagi Golu Magika~ (インフェルシアへ～マージ・ゴル・マジカ～ Inferushia e ~Māji Goru Majika~^?) The origin of Blagel explained.
2. 34. Bonds of Courage ~Goolu Golu Goludo~ (勇気の絆～ゴール・ゴル・ゴルド～ Yūki no Kizuna ~Gōru Goru Gorudo~^?) The sacrifice too soon?
3. 9. Fiery Friendship Fusion ~Giruma Maagi Magi Jinga~ (炎の友情合体～ジルマ・マージ・マジ・ジンガ～ Honō no Yūjō Gattai ~Jiruma Māji Maji Jinga~^?) Sort of Tokusatsu's Au Hasard Balthasar. Very unexpected.
4. 37. Sniping ~Golu Maagi~ (狙い撃ち～ゴル・マージ～ Neraiuchi ~Goru Māji~^?) Having a gun as a magical weapon has certain scary benefits. You also get to see Makito speak English!
5. 48. Decisive Battle ~Magi Majuulu Gogoolu Jingajin~ (決戦～マジ・マジュール・ゴゴール・ジンガジン～ Kessen ~Maji Majūru Gogōru Jingajin~^?) All seems lost.
6. Forbidden Magic ~Rooji Maneeji Magi Mamaruji~ (禁断の魔法～ロージ・マネージ・マジ・ママルジ～ Kindan no Mahō ~Rōji Menēji Maji Mamaruji~^?) What really makes this a great episode is the ethics behind time travel. Tsubasa shines again. Probably would have been better if they built up on this episode later. Oh well.
7. 36. Carrying Out Divine Retribution ~Maagi Golu Gogika~ (神罰執行～マージ・ゴル・ゴジカ～ Shinbatsu Shikkō ~Māji Goru Gojika~^?) The actor for Hikaru and Ifrit pull off making this seem like a face off for fate. It also played off Drake as the nice one of the group.
8. 4. The King of the Majin ~Maagi Giruma Magi Jinga~ (魔人の王様～マージ・ジルマ・マジ・ジンガ～ Majin no Ōsama ~Māji Jiruma Maji Jinga~^?) A sad memory and sacrifice by Urara, learning about most of the characters.
9. 47. Using Magic to Reach You ~Luludo Goludiiro~ (君にかける魔法～ルルド・ゴルディーロ～ Kimi ni Kakeru Mahō ~Rurudo Gorudīro~^?) I felt this ship like in Dekaranger was forced at the end. But they sure did make us try to believe it. Also, the climactic ending.
10. 28. Eternally… ~Giruma Magi Magi Magiine~ (永遠に…～ジルマ・マジ・マジ・マジーネ～ Eien ni… ~Jiruma Maji Maji Majīne~^?) A good Tsubasa episode that developed him as more than the cold brother of the Ozu clan.
11. 6. The Ruler of Darkness ~Uuza Douza Uru Zanga~ (闇の覇王～ウーザ・ドーザ・ウル・ザンガ～ Yami no Haō ~Ūza Dōza Uru Zanga~^?) The Ozus are tested by Wolzard without the use of a new monster. Gutszu.
12. 3. Ride the Magical Dragon ~Maagi Giruma Jinga~ (魔竜に乗れ～マージ・ジルマ・ジンガ～ Maryū ni Nore ~Māji Jiruma Jinga~^?) Makito shows jealousy, and who wouldn't? He's the real star of the show. Not Kai!
13. 35. Valley of the Gods ~Magi Magi Jijiru~ (神々の谷～マジ・マジ・ジジル～ Kamigami no Tani ~Maji Maji Jijiru~^?) A review episode mixed with the grand introduction of the Infershia Pantheon.
14. 18. Uniting Powers ~Maagi Giruma Gii Jinga~ (力を合わせて～マージ・ジルマ・ジー・ジンガ～ Chikara o Awasete ~Māji Jiruma Jī Jinga~^?) What really boosts this episode is the special appearance.
15. 13. If I Were Mother ~Jinga Majuna~ (お母さんなら～ジンガ・マジュナ～ Okāsan Nara ~Jinga Majuna~^?)
16. 27. Our Bonds ~Magiine Magiine~ (俺たちの絆～マジーネ・マジーネ～ Oretachi no Kizuna ~Majīne Majīne~^?)
17. 38. A Promise With Big Brother ~Goo Magiiro~ (アニキとの約束～ゴー・マジーロ～ Aniki to no Yakusoku ~Gō Majīro~^?) Decent Tsubasa-Kai episode after a Makito-Tsubasa episode. 
18. 45. Those Two are Friends ~Gii Golu Majuna~ (二人はともだち～ジー・ゴル・マジュナ～ Futari wa Tomodachi ~Jī Goru Majuna~^?) Sure, the tale of everybody becoming good came out of nowhere leading to poor execution, but this episode worked.
19. 2. Bringing out Courage ~Maagi Magi Magika~ (勇気を出して～マージ・マジ・マジカ～ Yūki o Dashite ~Māji Maji Majika~^?) (I would have liked it a little better ending with MagiMother's downfall in episode 1 than beginning of 2.)
20. 43. Mother's Scent ~Giruma Giruma Gonga~ (母さんの匂い～ジルマ・ジルマ・ゴンガ～ Kāsan no Nioi ~Jiruma Jiruma Gonga~^?) The return. Toad was pretty sinister. You could say it was a MAGIcal moment.
21. 22. A Date in Kyoto? ~Luuma Goludo~ (京都でデート？～ルーマ・ゴルド～ Kyōto de Dēto? ~Rūma Gorudo~^?) I know it's childish of me to choose this episode as they do not even get together in this season and I'm pretty much giving it points because of the fight choreography... But it's all so good...
22. 42. The Garden of Thorns ~Magi Magi Gogika~ (茨の園～マジ・マジ・ゴジカ～ Ibara no Sono ~Maji Maji Gojika~^?) They seem to love the game theme, and Toad was sinister, but I just felt that the evil dopplegangers idea was wasted by easily being defeated by Legend forms.

NYCC 2013: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Green Ranger

NYCC 2013 Sunday: A Family of Ranger Fans

Kamen Rider Decade 1-8 Summary

Opening episode:

• The Rider War
• The laughing.

Perfect debut formula:

• All hope is lost.
• Henshin.
• Good guy wins.

2:

• vs Kuuga
• PunchHopper KickHopper attack

3:
vs all Grongi.

4:

• Fangire-Human truce
• Renegade Fangire
• Replace Wataru as King

5:

• Wataru finding his father.

6:

• Natsumi framed for assassinating the Editor in Chief

7:
They find out who is really behind the assassinations. I have no idea what consequence this has for the Ryuki world, especially Alt Reality. Good thing Alt Knight has something going for him.

Episode 8:
Money and cook. Rider Employees

Revealed: Cast Member for Power Rangers Super Megaforce

2013 End of Year Tokusatsu Polls

I am trying to move the site to a more professional looking WordPress.
I am just trying it out at the moment. For whatever reason, Toku seems to be more popular (at least for new articles,) on Blogger.
Please tell me in the comments what you think.

Feel free to discuss to keep people excited, yet educated in Tokusatsu.
Thank you.

Who-are-you-most-looking-forward-to-coming-back-in-super-megaforce?

Who-do-you-think-should-make-a-kamen-rider-gaim-game?

What-is-the-best-tokusatsu-of-2013?

Initial thoughts of Kamen Rider Gaim

It looks like a fun video game-like series. Not too serious. Caters to somebody, whereas recent Saban or Gobuster, which catered to nobody.

It establishes a city that does not quite look like the Japan we see in every other Kamen Rider series, with more liberal lifestyles (extracurricular dance vs conservative forms of studying.)

In contrast, I think Kouta's/Kamen Rider Gaim's actor does not deliver when he has to do serious acting. Kouta's not a good character, not even that interesting of a character: just one that caters to child and child-like fans.

I wish it catered to older fans too, but in such a terrible age of Tokusatsu, one cannot be so greedy. I personally do not really care for the series, and just fast forward to whatever joke or toy shows up and save myself a lot of time with this series.

Yasuko Kobayashi and Gokaiger Staff will return for Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger.

Recently a Japanese magazine announced the staff behind the 38th Super Sentai series Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger (烈車戦隊トッキュウジャー).

STAFF:
Producer: Takaaki Utsunomiya (Gokaiger), Kei Ishikawa (Toei)
Screenplay: Yasuko Kobayashi (GoGo Sentai Boukenger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)
Action Director: Hirofumi Fukuzawa (Kyoryuger vs Go-Busters)
Director: Shojiro Nakazawa (Gokaiger vs. Gavan: The Movie)
Special Effects Director: Hiroshi Butsuda

Meanwhile, confirmed cast members are expected to be revealed by the first week of January.

The show looks to have a decent budget behind it with Gokaiger's Producer and Director involved. Being a big fan of Yasuko Kobayashi, I cannot wait to see what she has in store for Tokkyuger.

Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger premieres February 16th, 2014.

A Live Action Samurai Flamenco is everything Japan needs now

The first episode made the series seem really dark, like a darker version of Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, and James Gunn's Super with Tokusatsu: it incorporates elements of the lackluster untrained with the realistic reasons of why would someone become a superhero in this time. After all, why else do it? No one else has yet?
The main character seems to have split personality disorder and seems to be seeing things, as well as has some sort of ignorance of things, convincing himself of certain things that are untrue that truly make him a deep character. There is a lot to it than in typical Toku- no, superhero franchise in general that make this so complicated and interesting.

Heck, all the characters are imperfect:

• The Hit/Flamenco Girl fights for fun more than justice.
• Red Axe wants to be famous.
• Even the cop, thinks he knows everything about society, even though there is crime and a dark underbelly to his world.

Kamen Rider X Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen had a really good beginning

Good Beginning:
I had a lot of fun with this film unlike the other Gokaiger films. It was a little bit odd having Black Cross Fuhrer under Gokai Red's command, especially without saying anything, but it was pretty cool seeing the GokaiRed lead the Super Sentai Universe against Kamen Rider Decade. I think the beginning premise was very interesting and they should have stuck with it. GokaiRed being Super Sentai's Akuma against Decade.
Gokaiger of Thrones

Bad Middle:
Also, why Joe and Doc and not Joe and Luka? Luka and Joe are the stronger if not strongest ones on their teams. You cannot even use the girls only excuse like in Mighty Morphin Mutants, since they put Gai in the deleted list as well. I guess they thought it was redundant and felt that Doc was a better lighthearted, weak character, but they didn't include Ahim!
Why did Joe and Kaito go home? They were still fighting. Joe can take on Marvelous.

Terrible End:
The reveal that they were not really bad was a bit dumb as well. Nobody trusts Decade. How did they get back Toils Gill?
I also do not know enough about Kaito to understand why he would want to power Big Machine and this movie did not make him look that memorable for me to care.

Sound:
I also did not like the use of the Gokaiger and Decade themes, which are normally awesome. They were remixed beyond recognition, unmemorable and a lot of stuff did not work.
No voice actors showed up.

Drinking game: Suit actors half fall or pull the Picard manuever.

Does Pacific Rim US box office failure mean lack of Power Rangers film?

Pacific Rim is a big step back for the giant mech vs big monster genre as well as great different looking films made by Guillermo Del Toro.
Sure, the script and character do not speak masterpiece, but given the massive scale of the must see in IMAX film, over films that have also failed critically such as Iron Man 3, Man of Steel and Star Trek: Into Darkness, one can only, I don't know, completely lose faith in humanity as we get swallowed by giant monsters. Do movie goers really not know any more what kind of films are worth watching during the summer?

Was it a Hollywoodization or whitewashing of the giant mecha genre? Probably not, as many fans note the nostalgia of the genre to other childhood kaiju films. Notably Godzilla.

Fans complained specifically how "Pacific Rim was like Power Rangers."
Now, I did not see any of Haim Saban's handy work, notably this. However, the franchise not being in the ultra realistic genre we supposedly hold today is an unfortunate delay for Power Rangers fans.

Power Rangers however is a 20 year long brand. Pacific Rim had a ton of marketing issues. Power Rangers has tons of conventions, fan sites, etc.. Guillermo Del Toro's problem was that the film was made was too quickly without knowledge of this possibly new franchise. Too much of a risk to pull off. Maybe a DVD anime release should have came first like a Gotham Knight or Animatrix.

The Power Rangers movie drew fans in. Power Rangers' adaptation of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Super Megaforce may bring fans back in as well.

Could we use JJ Abrams and Michael Bay to get people into Power Rangers? (I can imagine all the fans speculating a naked Kimberly now!)

Joss Whedon would be more fair. Albeit, Disney and Power Rangers have yet to pull off anything good besides RPM. He hired Anna Hutchinson for Cabin in the Woods. Avengers got ate up doing nothing remotely interesting besides have Tony Stark talk to a flawed Loki, which was really just Kenneth Branagh's fault setting up. I would not enjoy it from a movie stand point much like I did not with the original film, which just copied Day of the Dumpster with a rushed ending with a character I could care less about.

If you do not believe me,
Jason David Frank's line at New York Comic Con 2013 was huge all four days.
Note to self: Take a picture of the line next time.

How Chojin Sentai Jetman made it to America theory

Although never stated by Tony Oliver at Power Morphicon or any other interviews, I have this theory of Jetman's adaptation into the US.

Kaori and Kim both start with the letter K, and are the rich damsels with major romances on their team. Kaori and Kimberly have the same number of syllables.
Ako and Trini are both the more athletic females on their team.
Those are the girls of the team.

Raita and Billy both wear glasses and are the unathletic ones on the team who are pacifistic.
Ryuu and Jason are the leader.

Cross Changer sorta sounds like Power Ranger even.

They even used a jetting technology in Season 2: it looked horrible and was probably why they never adapted Jetman with that technology.

Lost Galaxy: A Red Romance, Etty Lau Farrell is on my hit list

Was Leo never attracted to Kendrix? Only one way around?
Did they not think this through when they were making the series?

Kendrix does say, "Leo, are you okay?" in this episode making me think she was not Press Conferenced, but Global Gamed.

The episode could have been made for acting chops for John Koyama, and he's absolutely great in this episode.

The monster's pink.

I was pondering if that was the VR Troopers cycle, but it was just Gingaman episode prop.

Maybe I won't put a hit. She is from Hong Kong and she's cultured, being a Wong Kar-wai fan. http://www.alivenotdead.com/ettylaufarrell/details.html But gosh. She took Kendrix from Leo. Foul play, dear! Foul play!
(It's actually very odd for me, as I never quite understood everybody's deal when Kim left Tommy.)

Dan Southworth's Divergence Done By An Auteur

Quantum Ranger, Dragon Knight I mean Divergence is about a soldier dealing with some sort of mental illness after being on some mission. He is a handful for his a little bit too everyday girlfriend, who really does not know these things. (We do not really get to see conversations between them as Mark in the series tends to be outside the house determining his suspicions. What is an everyday conversation between the two of them besides "Thanks for not leaving me?" Have they met each other's families. We know she's met and talked to Ty, his best friend in a wheel chair who we have seen fighting at the beginning of the series.)
When they revealed the manipulation of the doctor, it could have been done subliminally like by a book on his desk stating something along the lines of PSTD Patient Manipulation.
As for the doppelgangers, if I were Alfred Hitchcock, I would have done something a bit more ambitious and written a story about how the doppelgangers were not only literal, but also figurative reflections of the characters of the show. A great example would have been giving the wife a doppleganger that resented Mark for mistreating her in her dimension which reflected something this dimension's wife had.
He does however set up the perfect murder with a doppleganger who may be lying, classic Hitchcock.
However, what do I know about a special effects show? Funding, cuts, takes.
The ending of the series has not been shown yet either. Who knows what will happen then?

The positives I've gathered from the Gatchaman criticisms on wikipedia (9/19/2013)

So far:
Pros:

• The opening fight is excellent, just so extreme. Seems like the 199 Super Sentai Senshi battle.
• The actress portraying the nemesis. She seems to mix ham and seriousness like a perfectionist chef's omelet deli sandwich.

Con:

• Marriage scheme to get into the nemesis' palace.

What we have to wait to see:
The technical jargon: It's an anime. They do it in Star Trek and very little criticism is given about it. (I criticize it.) Anime follows the same suit since.
The cast and acting: There have been complaints about hamming it up and not being Oscar worthy. It honestly was not like we were expecting that.
The special effects: This is not a $200 million budget movie. Fans did not expect it to be.

Where is the VR Troopers-Power Rangers crossover?

It's the fucking 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers.
It's not like Toei was like fuck, we don't know what we're doing. Let's not do anything special this anniversary!
I know there has not been much use of this since the purchase, but let's take the next logical step Saban. Let's have Ryan Steele team up with Jason Lee Scott. Let's have the Power Rangers Turbo teamup with the Big Bad Beetle Borgs. Let's have Power Rangers Mystic Force team up with the Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. Heck, bring that Lawrence brother and the dudes from Tattooed Teenages from Beverly Hills as well!

Oh and make sure Ryan wears the Season 1 costume. Who the fuck wants to remember that mother fucking catastrophe of a Season 2?

Where's Patton Oswalt where you need him?

LOST Galaxy should have been a Nickelodeon series

Not everybody hates Lost Galaxy.

Some people love it. Some people hate it. Everybody has an opinion about it. Here's what I got based on my Netflix experience.

There are some great moments in it.

Leo's quest to become an adventurer, a good guy in outer space.

When Mike gives Leo the Quasar Sabre (although it is adapted straight from Gingaman, it is done in an intergalactic fashion.)

Trakeena's training with Villamax.

Trakeena dueling with Leo

The post 9/11 insensitive finale.
The comeback of the Psycho Rangers.
Kendrix's death.
The return of Astronema.

However, there were confusing moments in the series as well.

Leo would fight Treacheron in a scene where it was horribly complicated who you were supposed to root for, and it seemed unnecessary to be put in that position.
There were moments but not something as a very cohesive experience. There's so much that could have been done with all the previously mentioned things.

However, you have to remember, they did not know there was going to be another series. And even in Space was not the best show in the world.
The crew had ideas, and implemented them well.
If this had been a Nickelodeon season it would have been really good.

Power Rangers Sitcom?

Ever feel that all the Japanese tokusatsu footage is being overused or that there is too much action to concentrate on the entertaining side of American tokusatsu? The humor?

How about a show that revolved around Bulk and Skull and Spike in Power Rangers Samurai?
An episode of Power Rangers Megaforce that revolved around that doing a project like The Saved By The Bell aspects of Mighty Morphin?
Beach episodes of Power Rangers Ninja Storm?
Boom the Orange Ranger and the cadets trying to get through SPD Academy classes?

Let's forget about the monsters and the fighting.

Heck, work on the acting and we can have a serious show about relationships and characters like in Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage, Rainer Werner Fassbinder or works from the French New Wave.
Yeah. Work on the acting..

I keep watching the first minutes of the non-Jonathan Trachzor Power Rangers Megaforce episodes

They suck.
They're fucking terrible.
I want to gouge my brain out of my body and turn my body inside out as a result of that.
They want to save the world, but they are going to school, which we do not see. What the heck is that?
Mighty Morphin made it work. They are copying that and not making it work.

I guess this is how critics of the 90s felt. I wonder how critics of the 00s felt. I wonder what is going to happen 10s to 20s.

NYCC 2013: Sunday: Gokaigers

NYCC 2013: Saturday: Megaforce/Goseiger Black

NYCC 2013: Sunday: Kamen Rider Decade

NYCC 2013: Saturday Evil: Astronema and a Green Ranger Fan

NYCC 2013: Saturday: Yellow Mighty Morphin Power Ranger

NYCC 2013: Friday Fans: Mega/Space Pink

The costume is very shiny. The rip looks like it fits right into the costume.

NYCC 2013: Friday Fans: Female Red Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fan

Not really a cosplay, but growing up in an anti-Power Rangers New York City, I have to appreciate it.

What I would have changed with Power Rangers Megaforce to make it more like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

I would have the Rangers mainly hang out at the Command Center
We know nothing about Gosei or Alpha Amillion.

I don't get much out of the dopey Ernie and the overzealous teacher.

I would have made Troy and Jake best friends: Troy and Jake may be friends, but Jason and Zack were best friends as were Austin St. John and Walter Emmanuel Jones. They always hanged out, trained together. I also would have made Noah hang out with Gia and Emma more.

Soni Aralynn, Power Ranger cosplayer has been cast as Divatox in Cisco Davis, Jr's Zordon of Eltar

Soni Aralynn, famed cosplayer and Power Rangers fan has been cast in Cisco Davis, Jr's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers prequel, Zordon of Eltar.
Soni has gained fame on the internet for cosplaying the last couple of years. I have her on facebook. I have seen her Dino Thunder and comical Green Ranger cosplay. She currently has 151,751 likes on Facebook. Hopefully big support for the fan film can come for that fan film. If each fan contributed a $1 to Cisco's fan film, Cisco can be well over 10000% over the budget it spending and we can have a real dream project going here! All he needs is your support. Please contribute whatever you can. $1 can really help.

Zordon of Eltar Fan Film reaches 1st 3 Stretch Goals: 4 Days Left

Stretch Goals:
1: Photographic Comic Book Series has been reached.
2: Scorpina and Goldar added to the film
3: Apollo 21: Day of the Dumpster: Extended Ending has been reached. Prepare for takeoff!

Director Cisco Davis, Jr has also added another stretch goal for the fan film.
4: Teemagers with Attitudes
That's right! If Zordon of Eltar, the Fan Film reaches $3500, he will add 5 new cast members to the film to play:

• Jason
• Zack
• Trini
• Kimberly
• Billy

for the Zordon of Eltar, fan film.

That is what he has in store for the fan film.

And with 4 days to go with your help, he may be able to reach it!

Best of luck, Cisco!

NYCC 2013: Friday Fans: Mighty Morphin Black Ranger

NYCC 2013: Friday Fans: The Brown Ranger?

Power Rangers Super Megaforce is going to suck

1. Same cast
2. Same crew
3. Same shitty acting
4. Haim Saban
5. SHIT

Good luck at Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, an already really campy show.