GoukaiSilver Debut
As Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger edges closer to finishing the first third of it's series, everyone's attention is taken off the main cast and to the inevitable appearance of the new warrior adding himself to the team's ranks, the sixth team member--GoukaiSilver. Admittedly, this has been one of the most poorly kept secrets in Toku in years, with the character having been confirmed at least since the first episode aired back in February. Even his power-up mode, and the fact that said power-up would have all the previous extra Senshi's helmets on the chest, was confirmed ages ago.
Yeah. I didn't get that wrong. GoukaiSilver's power-up, "Gold Mode", has the helmets of all the previous "extra" Senshi on it's chest. Check the picture below.
As someone who thinks the need for "realism" in EVERY FREAKING THING EVER is misplaced, I have to respect Tokusatsu's willingness to eschew that and embrace the inherent insanity in the genre. That said?
Why? The armor wasn't enough? A lot of extra team members tend to be either gold or silver, and they didn't want to (or couldn't afford to) hire someone to play a GoukaiGold, so they split the difference and created someone that could do both, which I get. But...helmets on the chest? It makes less sense than Kamen Rider Decade Complete Form, which had the cards of all the previous Riders strewn about the chest like an extremely gaudy necklace.
But I'm hopeful. The normal suit looks cool enough, and I LOVE the idea behind his creation. If JEFusion is to be believed, the sixth warrior, Gai Ikari, will be a longtime fan of the Super Sentai, and will be granted his powers by three of the previous extra senshi, DragonRanger (Burai), TimeFire (Naoto), and Abarekiller (Mikoto)--three senshi noted for their dinosaur-type mecha* in one giant, presumably awesome tribute episode.
Of course, this also means that GoukaiSilver's mecha should have three forms too (because that's how these things work), and indeed it does. GoZyuJin, pictured below, can apparently turn into a drill spaceship, a T-Rex, and (of course) a robot.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't completely LOVE that GoZyuJin looks like DaiZyuJin from Zyuranger in robot form (the original Megazord from MMPR). I hope it's just as awesome as it's predecessor.
Twelve episodes in, I have to say I'm still enjoying Gokaiger. Though the team remains (with a couple notable exceptions) unchallenged, it's still fun to see them switch seamlessly into different teams and use completely different powers from episode to episode. It definitely keeps things from growing boring during fights.
I'm also enjoying the growing story the series seems to be telling, not only about the fight against the Zangyack, but about the team's past. The writers don't seem to care if they have to tell it during tribute episodes either, which will hopefully silence those who think the tributes actually take *away* from the show's focus. (And yet somehow I don't see it happening.)
Still, as interesting as the team is, I find myself more excited to see the old team members come through. My only complaint is that I'd love to see more of each series' cast, but I think that actually would take too much away from the team and make the story's focus too scattered. It would've been nice to see Sentai go back to primetime for a year and run for 45 minutes to allow a proper meeting between the different teams, but I can't imagine how much that would've cost, and the story is already a fanboy/girl's dream to begin with, so I'm mostly just shutting up and enjoying the ride. That said, if it can only be 1-2 guests per tribute, I would prefer it not always be the Red. Shake it up some. Let Go-On Silver be the tribute guest for an episode, or HurricaneBlue.
Other than that though, Gokaiger has been an amazing series so far, reigniting the flame I had when I first started watching Sentai, and hopefully its doing the same for everyone else.
*SPOILER: And for the fact that they all died in their respective shows.
Yeah. I didn't get that wrong. GoukaiSilver's power-up, "Gold Mode", has the helmets of all the previous "extra" Senshi on it's chest. Check the picture below.
As someone who thinks the need for "realism" in EVERY FREAKING THING EVER is misplaced, I have to respect Tokusatsu's willingness to eschew that and embrace the inherent insanity in the genre. That said?
Why? The armor wasn't enough? A lot of extra team members tend to be either gold or silver, and they didn't want to (or couldn't afford to) hire someone to play a GoukaiGold, so they split the difference and created someone that could do both, which I get. But...helmets on the chest? It makes less sense than Kamen Rider Decade Complete Form, which had the cards of all the previous Riders strewn about the chest like an extremely gaudy necklace.
But I'm hopeful. The normal suit looks cool enough, and I LOVE the idea behind his creation. If JEFusion is to be believed, the sixth warrior, Gai Ikari, will be a longtime fan of the Super Sentai, and will be granted his powers by three of the previous extra senshi, DragonRanger (Burai), TimeFire (Naoto), and Abarekiller (Mikoto)--three senshi noted for their dinosaur-type mecha* in one giant, presumably awesome tribute episode.
Of course, this also means that GoukaiSilver's mecha should have three forms too (because that's how these things work), and indeed it does. GoZyuJin, pictured below, can apparently turn into a drill spaceship, a T-Rex, and (of course) a robot.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't completely LOVE that GoZyuJin looks like DaiZyuJin from Zyuranger in robot form (the original Megazord from MMPR). I hope it's just as awesome as it's predecessor.
Twelve episodes in, I have to say I'm still enjoying Gokaiger. Though the team remains (with a couple notable exceptions) unchallenged, it's still fun to see them switch seamlessly into different teams and use completely different powers from episode to episode. It definitely keeps things from growing boring during fights.
I'm also enjoying the growing story the series seems to be telling, not only about the fight against the Zangyack, but about the team's past. The writers don't seem to care if they have to tell it during tribute episodes either, which will hopefully silence those who think the tributes actually take *away* from the show's focus. (And yet somehow I don't see it happening.)
Still, as interesting as the team is, I find myself more excited to see the old team members come through. My only complaint is that I'd love to see more of each series' cast, but I think that actually would take too much away from the team and make the story's focus too scattered. It would've been nice to see Sentai go back to primetime for a year and run for 45 minutes to allow a proper meeting between the different teams, but I can't imagine how much that would've cost, and the story is already a fanboy/girl's dream to begin with, so I'm mostly just shutting up and enjoying the ride. That said, if it can only be 1-2 guests per tribute, I would prefer it not always be the Red. Shake it up some. Let Go-On Silver be the tribute guest for an episode, or HurricaneBlue.
Other than that though, Gokaiger has been an amazing series so far, reigniting the flame I had when I first started watching Sentai, and hopefully its doing the same for everyone else.
*SPOILER: And for the fact that they all died in their respective shows.
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