Aether Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 So heres another one of my pointless customary end of Sentai Reviews... TENSHIN DAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, next is Gosei Sentai Dairanger (Five Stars Squadron Dairanger). first off i'll say that this is kind of an old Sentai from 1993 . The Mecha was used for the Zords in the second season of MMPR and its also where they knicked the design for the White Ranger. Secondly i'll say despite its age it certainly kicks much ass! Theme Tunes - The opening is a classic - ''Tenshinda! woah woah woah woah...'', the closing not so much, but still has its own charm. Story - the Gorma tribe vs the Dai tribe, milleniums of war come to a head in Dairanger. its one of the better stories of the 4 sentai ive seen so far. it was threaded all the way through the episodes, and there were a few twist and turns, and it really built to a climax at the finale. Characters - all the main characters were likeable and have their own personalities which are explored throughout the show. each has a little story going on that runs through the series, some more than others but its all good. the supporting characters are cool. the bad guys are, lets say interesting, and they have their own stories going on aswell as the main battle of the Gorma vs Dai, which makes it all the more interesting. Also i want to say here that the acting of this cast was good where it needed to be as there is some dramatic moments, and also more to the point passionate. There was extreme passion especially when it came to powering up - ive never seeen more passion put into transforming than from these guys!!! TENSHIN DAA!!!!! AURA CHANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Suits and Morphers - Suits were a little too white for me, but i loved the Aura Changer!!!!!!!!! Action - action was pretty good, being a sentai based on kung fu there was a decent amount of action. despite them being dated the effects were pretty good and suit the whole feel of this sentai... as a side note to my personal view- i grew up watching Hong Kong movies including Jackie Chans 80's movies like Police Story and stuff by Shaw brothers with tacky glowing lazer chi / ki beams and such, thus the feel of Dairangers to me is kind of mix of that. even though its in the early 90's it feels like its in the 80's and the effects even though sub par by todays standards are obviously top of the range for back then - and i loved it all! Mecha - i liked the Mythical Qi Beasts but wasnt too sure about the mode when Ryurangers mech just stood on top of the rest. The finishing move was used too much i think, but i suppose they have learnt from this nowadays and make things more varied. Comedy - i wouldnt say that Dairangers has that much comedy in it that i can remember. however the stand out laughs for me were the perverse antics of Kou. what a pervert!!! You could say there is unintentional comedy in there- for example the 3 main Gorma look like they are going to an S and M party. truly evil, but this is suposed to be a kids show!! Also towards the beginning of the series some of the monsters are a bit comedic, i mean there were dolls running about with steak knives threatening people, which was disturbing, weird and funny at the same time! things get less like this after the first few episodes though. Ending -excellent,unpredictable, stuff happenend, stuff needed to be sorted, it got sorted in a cool way. You couldnt really ask for more than what was given. Conclusion - in a nutshell despite its age Dairangers is great. This could be because of the aformentioned nostalgia of 80's kung fu and special effects but i would say if you hold Dairanger up against some of the post 2000 sentai it certainly comes out very well. There are a few episodes that could be considered a bit lame but it depends how you see them, however i just found those eps funny, like the football and Baseball episodes- they are like WTF??? but so ridiculous you cant help but smile and they end up being episodes you need to have seen for reasons i wont spoil. There are also some great characters in here aswell. The stand out one for me is the bad guy who appears in eps 26 and 27 - i can say that these are the 2 best episodes out of the 200+ episodes of sentai that i've seen so far. freakin awesome. what else can i say??...its an oldy but a goody! 1 Quote
*Jess♥ Posted September 11, 2012 Posted September 11, 2012 could you remind us which super sentai you've seen besides this one? your review is encouraging and makes this sound like an attractive series. I haven't considered watching this before, but perhaps i'll put it on my list of 'maybe watch some day when i can bear to watch old stuff'. Quote
Aether Posted September 11, 2012 Author Posted September 11, 2012 (edited) so far i have seen Hurricanger Dekaranger Magiranger Boukenger i must say when i first put the first episode on i was like WTF am i watching? this looks ugh! but then like i said i got a nostalgia rush, then i gave it a chance, and.... well you read the review . i get not liking the 'old' stuff. i actually tried watching some Zyuranger because of the whole MMPR thing but i couldnt hack more than 1 ep, it was horrible. the feel was - errugh! same when i was looking into Kamen Rider and looked at some older series, i didnt much like it. whereas the 2000's sentai that ive seen are all in their own 'zone' after Hurricanger (cant speak about Abaranger) from Dekarangers onwards they seem similar, if you know what i mean? but Dairanger seems a little different altogether, if i'm making any sense?? yes its still super sentai and probably 85% the same but there's something different. i guess its just the time it was made, and maybe the characters, i think the way the characters are portrayed are different, i can't put my finger on it. well all i can say is i really enjoyed it and i'd watch it again, so it must be good! Edited September 11, 2012 by Aether Quote
*Jess♥ Posted September 12, 2012 Posted September 12, 2012 wow, that is a great recommendation, I'll definitely get it now. so you've seen hurricanger and it's up there with that? well since hurricanger was my favourite, then i must have to see dairanger. btw, you should not skip abaranger. it was quality. number 2 after hurricanger and only to be beaten this year by gobusters. I know exactly what you mean about their 'zone'. that is precisely the reason why i skipped most of them. the whole genre seemed to be stagnant after abaranger. so when you say dairanger has it's own feel to it, then it must be a stand-out series like hurri, aba and gobus. Quote
Aether Posted September 12, 2012 Author Posted September 12, 2012 cool. i think if you can give it some episodes to get into it you should enjoy it. i enjoyed Hurricanger (first Sentai i watched) but to be honest i did enjoy Dairanger that bit more - im not trying to 'big it up' any more than i already have, thats just my opinion. i'm sure you remember how much i like Dekaranger but i couldnt compare it and Dairanger really because to me they are too different and have different qualitys of enjoyment. at the time i was looking for super sentai the synopsis for Abaranger just didnt grab me, so i didnt grab it, which was a mistake because last time i tried looking about 2 months ago i couldnt really find it - i think i found 6 episodes of it altogether. ive still got 3 or 4 other SS series to watch and 2 Kamen Rider so its not as if im short of stuff to watch at the moment!! oh man, now youre telling me Gobusters is on a par with Hurricanger? - damn, i either really need to get watching it more now (im only @ ep 6) or save it for after the other series that i want to watch....ha! i wish i wasnt so finiky about this stuff , i guess because i was late to the Sentai / Toku party i'm just spoilt for choice!! Quote
*Jess♥ Posted September 12, 2012 Posted September 12, 2012 heh heh, well if you do catch up with gobusters now, then you can join in the current discussion about it. it's a shame you can't get ahold of abranger. I've only ever watched it on a HKsub. it would be nice to watch a decent sub of it. Quote
*Jess♥ Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 so far I have seen 4 or 5 episodes of dairanger. I have to say this is outstanding! I mean, having gotten used to the formulaic structure of much super sentai, this is quite surprising. a whole episode with NO MECHA? wow, this is certainly what has made it stand out for me. I have been watching super sentai for a while and i got the impression that the writers had a sort of rule book and rule number #1 is "there must be mecha fight in every single episode" . in fact, for a long while, I was convinced that each episode had to have a mecha fight at around 3/4 of teh way through and then a short 5 minute roundup after the mecha fight. I figured that gobusters was 'progressing' by not having the mecha fight at the end all the time and also breaking it up a bit. but now I find out that there is an earlier series with far more integrity than even gobusters. I don't even care that it is old because it seems that I'm actually watching a series where story trumps the special effects. sure, watching tokusatsu is bad when it is old and the main focus is the special effects. because when the main focus of the show is a por quality compared to what i am used to, then what can they possibly do. nothing. it is just bad. but when the main focus os the story, then it doesn't matter about the quality of the effects. Quote
Aether Posted November 28, 2012 Author Posted November 28, 2012 im so pleased that you have started watching this Ryuki, i do think you will really enjoy it. it only gets better and better as it goes on.... i truly think that it could be one of the best sentai of all time... i would like to see the ninja one from the following year, but the preceding ones seem too old and the ones following it will be too 90's for me i fear ( effects wise at least- i hate that crap transition of crappy digital efects that look crap that we had for about 10 years in tv programmes). when it comes to the effects though i love the old 80's type effects that were done well, it was a real craft to do models or place tacky laser beams in just the right place, i love that stuff. i think now toku will only get better if it hasnt already reached a pinnacle. i think Go-Busters has just the right mix of effects mixed with the actual Mecha suits, it doesnt seem too tacky or over digitised. things seem to haveevened out, if that makes sense!? Quote
*Jess♥ Posted November 29, 2012 Posted November 29, 2012 that really depends on the criteria. can there ever be a 'pinnacle', story wise? as long as they continue focusing on story seriously then we can look forward to good series. the effects... well I have been very impressed with dairanger in some places. for example, the bits where we follow ryuseioh flying are incredible. that thing is so well made and is a delight to watch. in comparison, all recent super sentai have been pretty poor. making those marionettes is a true art and you can see the love that goes into them. the CGI effects are not quite so lovingly crafted. I don't know about dairanger being the best sentai in history, I heard tell that jetman is the best. I don't know though because i've never seen it. well I did watch the first episode a bit and there was some rather good comedy moments in it. Quote
Aether Posted November 29, 2012 Author Posted November 29, 2012 (edited) well no, i suppose a pinnacle story isnt possible, it just has to be engaging and... good! i meant effects wise, i think where the sentai and kamen rider is at is pretty damn good . i think maybe for myelf Dairangers will be the best for reasons i stated before. Jetman??? well reading up on it says its a homage to the original anime for Gforce/ battle of the planets!!so i'd give it a go at least. i wonder if its around to get with subs?.... what i would like to see is Ninja Sentai Kakuranger to see if its anywhere near as good as Dairanger as it came the following year so maybe they were on a roll?? Edited November 29, 2012 by Aether Quote
*Jess♥ Posted November 29, 2012 Posted November 29, 2012 special effects have a long way to go IMO. I think with special effects, the physical models have so much charm. I think it's more about the craftsmanship than any technological capability. I am not sure about hurricanger but i think there was some CGI in it, but it didn't look bad. it was used well. I think CGI needs to compliment the live action footage. A good example of how physical effects can be better than CGI is the film prometheus. a lot of the sfx in that was done physically. the tall white dudes, they were real people. I don't think any CGI could have come up with something as amazing as that. because it is effortless. it is real. there is no mistaking it. no worrying about light rays or transparency etc. it's real. and its beautiful. Quote
Aether Posted December 1, 2012 Author Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) the sfx in toku now are very good compared to older japanese productions i think. i was always interested in seeing some decent Japanese live action films as i always thought if there anime is so cool then surely their films are too? but whenever i sought anything out the effects were apauling... thinking of it now the effects in older sentai is probably better than the things i saw - i cant remember specific titles it may have just been clips, but ive had that perception from a time when i looked into it. i havent seen prometheus yet - or JC's avatar - but yeah, real is always better i think its the nack of being able to blend everything together so it doesnt look tacky, something they couldnt do very well decades ago, but now because of the 0 and 1's (i.e digital) i guess its easier. oh, ive sought out Jetman. so i might get to watch it at some stage... Edited December 1, 2012 by Aether Quote
*Jess♥ Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I guess it really depends where your priorities lie. I mean, I really love the special effects in abaranger. the dinosaurs use CGI but they look good even though it was something like ten years ago. some of the recent super sentai, they use CGI but it looks poor. gobusters, the movements are cool, but the usage is lazy. they prefer to do a whole sequence in entirely CGI rather than using a mix of physical and CGI effects. when CGI is used to support real effects it looks best. but CGI is difficult to make it realistic, what with lighting etc. maybe you can see what i mean in this clip. skip to about halfway through. I think the effects in this are far better than most of the recent series. Quote
Aether Posted December 2, 2012 Author Posted December 2, 2012 you see to me the dinosaurs in abaranger look quite tacky- similar to that crap 90's digital stuff i was on about before, but not as bad... more recent digi stuff just looks better - but how it is used or mixed might not be. i thought Go-Busters was a mix of both? or maybe they just have real and digi but not mixed together, to be honest ive not been paying attention that much!!! Quote
*Jess♥ Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 wow, you think they look tacky? yikes. ok fair enough, I can't challenge your sense of aesthetics yeah gobusters does of course have the live action shots, but it seems to me they are very much separate. I mean, when cb01 is in cheetah mode, I am pretty sure it is completely CG and can't recall ever seeing a physical model of that cheetah. also, when in humanoid mode, and flying across the city, I am sure that is completely CG. oh, ok I got a screenshot... in this shot, all of it can be made with real physical models, but it is completely made in CGI, to me, that is lazy and cheap but it also means that their ethos has changed. they are less in favour of wonderful looking effects and more in favour of what is economic. they could make that sequence look incredible and pretty much spot-on with physical models but instead they choose CG which will never quite attain the perfection of physical reality. that's why i think the effects in this screenshot is infinitely superior! Quote
*Jess♥ Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 oh, and i watched the episode with the samurai dude in it last night. it was so awesome when doushi kaku was telling us about the historical dairangers!! I even go goosebumps while watching it! something I haven't had from super sentai in a long while! I know who the samurai guy is now too and that is such a cool story element. but that will be covered in more detail next episode. Quote
Aether Posted December 2, 2012 Author Posted December 2, 2012 (edited) after quickly looking at the 1st opening of Go-Busters it seems that yes the real and digital are seperated, but what i did notice is that the difference is not quite so jarring as lets say Abaranger - to me at least, because the digital effects / models look less 'tacky' (sorry!) there isnt such a noticeable switch from real to digital because the digital doesnt look so bad, to me it sort of flows together better if that makes sense?.... i randomly fast forwarded through ep 12 of GB and noticed an unnecessary digital shot of Gorisaki bananna cut inbetween the real models (@ about 19 - 20 mins), i presume they did that just because it was at the very end of its transformation meaning more work -so yes it just smacks of laziness!! i think a perfect thing for them to do would be to build real models of everything and then animate the cgi from that so it would look real but be produced digitally - i dont know if thats possible or cost effective etc. but it seems the only way to marry the two together. BTW what ep of Dairangers are you on?? if you give me an ep number i'll get where you mean, as some events are cloudy seeing as i watched it probably towards the beginning of the year, and i wouldnt wantt o give any spoilers or anything.... i think the ep you are on about is where they all meditate and go flying!! but i could be wrong! whoa whoa whoa whoa! Edited December 2, 2012 by Aether Quote
*Jess♥ Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 i don't recall any flying. basically that old dude bad guy just appeared. they dont have a gattai mecha yet. episode i think 8.... no, 8 is my next view. the challenge to creating convincing CGI models is surface materials, detail and render time. I've noticed on the new lion thing in gobusters.. can't remember what it's called... one of teh shots, it was clear that it's jaw was modelled very simply. there wasn't much bevel or chamfering and it looked flat. in short, the edges were too perfect. this is the problem. they have to make it look like it has been constructed. if the corner is a perfect corner, it looks false. also, if they don't get the materials right, the object won't look real. they need to get the right amount of reflections and specularity etc. what they could do, is to use the models and then use CGI to animate some parts of the models. is that what you meant? they wouldn't be using pure CG footage, they would be warping and morphing real footage. Quote
Aether Posted December 3, 2012 Author Posted December 3, 2012 (edited) @ Dairangerah, ep 7 / 8 a quick peak and i recall that, yes great stuff, and so early in the series - i love it!! and the flying well it was more astral projection i suppose, in episode 4 whey they meditate and fly to china to the daos ruins... @CGI ...what they could do, is to use the models and then use CGI to animate some parts of the models. is that what you meant?they wouldn't be using pure CG footage, they would be warping and morphing real footage. yeah thats exactly what i meant , surely that would produce some pretty cool scenes. Edited December 3, 2012 by Aether Quote
*PrimalNemesis Posted December 10, 2012 Posted December 10, 2012 Ever since TV Nihon lost all their direct downloads I have been unable to watch a single ounce of quality subbed Super Sentai or Kamen Rider! I have been in the dark for month! I was planning on finally finishing Shinkenger and Gokaiger! I still want to finish Zyuranger and Dairanger also. I know TV Nihon and other sites offer torrents, but I do not trust those as much as direct download. Quote
*Jess♥ Posted December 10, 2012 Posted December 10, 2012 if you want to continue watching dairanger, then perhaps we could give you some advice about torrenting? if so, then you can make a new thread about torrenting and we can give you all the details about safety and security etc. Quote
Aether Posted April 2, 2013 Author Posted April 2, 2013 (edited) oldy topic, but as i remember we mentioned it in here, i wanted to let peeps know that TV Nihon has announced they are releasing Abaranger and the first ep is up now.... oh what a funny april fools that was still on at april the 2nd!! anyway.... hey, Ryuki i wonder if you mangaed to watch all of Dairanger?? Edited April 3, 2013 by Aether Quote
*Jess♥ Posted May 2, 2013 Posted May 2, 2013 heya, I've not really put it back on since then. I got a lot of stuff going on at the moment, struggling to stay on top of things. Quote
Aether Posted May 3, 2013 Author Posted May 3, 2013 (edited) oh well, at least you know you have a classic to watch when you get a chance... i still have the fondest memories of this sentai. i read in your blog about your recent events so good luck with it all.. (depending on how you look at it ) you can look forward to a time when you have nothing to do but watch toku /sentai! kind of related - SHF figuarts just announced a figure of Ryu Ranger so my wallet is crying because it would be extremely rude of me not to get it! but at least i have 4 months to save up! Edited May 3, 2013 by Aether 1 Quote
LordSpleach Posted May 3, 2013 Posted May 3, 2013 That's awesome that he comes with the Chinaman head from Akibaranger. 1 Quote
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