Elements of a Girl Power Episode

At least once a season, there will be a "girl power" episode. In this episode, the heroine(s) will be the spotlight. The episode will focus on them, and they will own the boys after kicking the MOW's ass by themselves, and/or prove they are just as good as the guys. This will happen in every girl power episode.

Some series have had more than one girl power episode. A good example would be Flashman, Carranger, Megaranger, or Dekaranger, which have more than one girl power episode. Dekaranger even had its own girl power ending.

How they get to that battle, though is different depending on series.

The following are common traits in girl power episodes.


The girls are at each others' throats, or one girl is jealous or fed up with another girl. A good example of this could be Carranger, in which Natsumi and Youko were at each others' throats, and it escalated to the point that both of them exited the cockpit of the mecha in a huff. In Megaranger, Chisato was fed up at Miku's hyperactive behavior during their annual school trip, during which Chisato would feel the brunt of her antics. Then Miku gets hit by an evolution ray, and becomes "Super-Miku," and much calmer, intelligent, and considerate. She then overhears Chisato saying that she prefers "Super-Miku" better, causing her to question herself, and wanting to stay evolved, even though the evolution rays were having a negative effect on her body, and her body was rejecting them. In Dekaranger, Umeko was jealous because she thought Jasmine was better than her (also, Umeko thinks of herself as the leader of the Dekarangers, much like Dwight Schrute thinks he's the Assistant Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton), and starts acting like her, and pretending to have ESP powers. In Goseiger, Moune is fed up with Eri's airy behavior, and its revealed that despite being the youngest, she still has a motherly-like attitude and wants to protect the impulsive Eri.

Another factor is the isolation of the male team-members from the female team members. In Flashman, the girls were up against the MOW, while the rest of the team-members were on a train. In Dekaranger, and Go-onger, the MOW caused the men to be incapacitated. In Shinkenger, the men had the men in spandex full-body spandex on their backs (okay, they were some mythological monster, but it's funnier to say they are guys in zentai suits).

Sometimes the MOW will be female, like when Chisato and Miku (who I think were arguing) faced off against Nejeyellow and Nejipink (who were also arguing) resulting in the death of Nejipink.

The girls will usually have their own special attack, like Houka and Urara's in Magiranger, when they started singing the closing credit song, and pulled up pom-poms.

The Best Part was the Astroid: My Thoughts on Gokaiger Episode 22

Wow, in my opinion, this was the weakest episode yet.

In fact, it was so weak that I'm not going to be posting screencaps (also, I'm feeling a little lazy this week).

I would have loved to see a flashback with Joe and Sid, or at least have something with Barizorg. That way the audience could know why Joe was so invested in helping the kid.

Also, the episode had a Sakamoto-splosion, or Bay-Splosion.

The out of suit fight scenes were another strong part.

My favorite part is when Gokaioh hurls Gai's mecha at the astroid and destroys it. That was cool! And then it produces a beautiful meteor shower.

And I was right about the accidental transformation!

Next week, it's the mandatory Girl Power episode. These episodes are always my favorite. And we get to see Matsuri/Go-Pink. And Basco, and a bunch of extra Ranger keys.

Meowr!

 

Looks like Luka and Ahim might have a cat fight. Ahim cares a little bit more about life on Earth than Luka. This episode is the first time that Luka is instrumental in unlocking a power (Ahim will help too, but she's been instrumental twice)

And for some reason Joe and Doc are helping what looks like a Drag Queen or a transwoman with her make-up. I don't know what it has to do with Navi's prediction, but they are helping someone. Also, Joe looks good in mascara.

Other Possible Accidental Changes

We've seen two accidental changes so far: Turboranger instead of Carranger (due to the fact Carranger was a homage to Turboranger) and Kakuranger and Hurricanger (they both are ninjas). In the upcoming episode, Joe's transformation to AbareBlue and Gai's transformation to Dragon Ranger might be another accidental change (Gai suggests dinosaurs or something, and Joe becomes Abareblue instead of TriceraRanger).

These are hillarious, and some of my favorite parts of the show. Here are some other accidental changes that could happen. I'm not listing every single one of them because I'm looking at more than one theme. (Although Fiveman, Gogo V and Magiranger are sibling teams, they wouldn't have an accidental change, because there was more to it, and they all aren't just known as family teams)

Sun Vulcan and Liveman (original team): They have a red bird, a yellow feline, and a blue sea-creature. Could be an accident.

Goggle V and GoGo V: Both can sound the same (especially in Japanese).

Gogo V and Gogo Sentai Boukenger: Both have a Gogo in their names.

(There are going to be both of these in today's episode, it might or might not be accidental)

Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Goseiger: Both have Gosei in their names.

Any other ideas? Feel free to comment.

Marvelous and Luka's Excellent Adventure: My Thoughts on Gokaiger Episode 21

I know UkiyaSeed previously used this title for an episode review of episode 10, but this was too good to pass up!

I loved seeing Satoru as much as Gai did. I liked how he was involved in the story.

And I loved seeing Joe, Doc, Ahim, and Gai as the Kakurangers and Shurikengers. I love the accidental transformation "Not those ninjas." And I loved seeing the visual effects that thy used in Kakuranger.

It was nice to see treasure hunters meet up. And I liked the part when Satoru saved Marvelous's ass, then Luka saves Satoru's ass. I know one fan started doing a crack pairing of Satoru and Luka after this episode, seeing they have a lot in common.

And the fight as the Boukengers was AMAZING. And then they used the Boukenger's ultimate power which produced a phantom DaiBouken. Oh, and Marvelous pulling the heart out of Ryuuwon was the icing on the top of the awesome cake.

I liked the lesson they learned. It's not the treasure, it's the adrenaline, that excitement you get during an adventure that's the real treasure.

And I like the end, when Marvelous tickles Navi.

I liked seeing Marvelous's flashbacks with Akared.

And speaking of Akared, it seems that Satoru wanted to get the Heart of Hades not because it was a precious, but maybe because it could revive Akared. Interesting.... I hope we see more of this.

Okay, here's my one objection. We find out in this episode that Marvelous is upset after finding out Basco can suck warrior's abilities with his trumpet, after the last episode. It would have been nice to see some development in the previous episode, showing that Marvelous was affected, instead of just explaining that at the beginning of this episode. Show don't tell.

I was happy to see Marvelous and Luka together. I like how she seems to be the one to get under his skin, and understands him a bit more. However, it's pretty ambiguous and may or may not be viewed as a ship tease. But a girl can dream, can't she?

Also, I noticed that this was in a shot. Is this important? It looks amazing, though.

Next episode is a focus on Joe and Gai. And it has a plot with a little boy and something and... it's making me think of how Joe left the Zangyack after refusing to kill children. And we finally see the whole team together as the Goseigers (although we've seen them separately as them) The Dairanger (ditto). So we see them as Tensou Sentai Goseiger and as the Gosei Sentai Dairanger. Interesting. Oh, and we see them as Ohranger as well (we've seen only Doc as OhGreen). And we see Joe as AbareBlue and Gai as Dragon Ranger. Cool episode. Looking forward to the fight scenes.

Soggy Donuts and Black Bulls: My Thoughts on Gokaiger Episode 20

Mmmmmm.... donuts.... glrgh......

I love how this episode was ripe with Gingaman references. We have the donuts the Gokaigers brought the Gingaman so they would like them, despite the fact they were pirates, and the Gingaman fought pirates. A perfect idea! Donuts were Hikaru's favorite food. Too bad he wasn't there. He'd give them the ultimate power for some donuts, even if they are soaking wet, and then he'd probably shoot lightening bolts at them and laugh.

Also, Gai apparantly owns a guidebook about the Gingaman. Who wrote it? It's viable that it was Haruhiko, who was the writer the Gingaman lived with. He later went on to write adventures about the Gingaman, so this is probably the book.

Lastly, Hyuuga testing Gai's true confidence in his role of Gokai Silver, by asking to be Gokai Silver instead is very similar to what he went through with Ryouma after he returned, with Ryouma questioning if he still is GingaRed, since Hyuuga was going to be GingaRed originally.

Basco returns and he may not have gotten the Gingaman's power, but he kept his three new rangerkeys: DekaMaster, Wolzard Fire, and MagiMother.

So, apparantly, he can absorb the powers of extra heroes through his trumpet of doom as well as summon them.

It was nice to see the Gokaigers unlock the Gingaman's power. The henshin scene and fight scene is amazing. I liked seeing Marvelous using Gingared's Elemental ability, Luka using Gingayellow's attack pattern (rushing and dragging the minion across the ground like an actual wolf) and Don using GingaGreen's aerial attack.

Stuff that I didn't like: No special mecha attack (unless I missed something), Gouki wasn't there (seriously, Shouhei would do that in a split second, unless he was busy with something else), and I know this is petty, but GingaPink would do this cat-like attack, where she would claw a minions face, and it was kind of cute and funny, and I was upset that Ahim didn't do it...

But even though we didn't get a special mecha unlock, we did get to see the two brothers, Hyuuga and Ryouma, an amazing fight scene, and Gai got a Kurokishi key.

Also, I liked Basco's giant monster thingy. It looked cool, and I would have liked it to be an Action Commander. It's probably just me, but it kind of looks like Kintaros.

We get the ending for the Summer Movie. That mecha fight on that freakin ghost ship looks amazing, and GoZyuJin in its GoZyuRex form roaming the streets at night with people screaming kind of reminds me of Godzilla.

The ghosts in the ship kind of remind me of Casper the Friendly Ghost.

If Luka hooks up with Doc I will be a very unhappy person. Then again, she might have purposely attempted to revive him for a chance to hit him.

Honestly, the best ship for me is the Gokaiger's polygamous, swinging relationship. Everyone dates everyone. Why? Because they're pirates! That's why!

Next week.....

He's back....

And he's back....

A treasure hunter meeting another treasure hunter. Interesting...

Kakuranger and Shurikenger, nice!

I wonder what the Boukenger's power will be.

I had a feeling Luka would be involved in this, considering Luka loves treasure hunting as much as Satoru. But she better not flirt with him, unless she wants Sakura to kick her ass.

Possibly a Marvelous x Luka ship tease? Hey, a girl can dream, can't she!

PS: The title of the previous post was from Othello, one of my favorite plays. Read it sometime!