Hard on Starboard: Gokaiger Episode Two

This post will have pictures, as I did the last post in a soda-influenced/excitement trance.

Okay, first I'd like to thank Overtime for their subs. Really quick, like in a day.

I hoped to instantly watch it, however, Keyhole was down for maintanance. Come on!

The extremely cute Navi has some psychic powers, apparently. Navi goes into a psychic trance (by hitting his or herself on the head) and tells them to look for a man in black, who will be the key to finding the treasure and getting off of this backwoods planet. Unfortunately, when the Gokaigers go to look, they find that almost everyone is wearing black clothing.

They encounter a teenage boy who they believe is the prophesied man in black clothing. He manages to steal Gokaired's Shinken Red key, and Red goes to beat him up, but being a sweet princess, Pink goes with him to make sure he doesn't, while Green worries, and Blue and Yellow understand what's going on, having apparently been with Captain Marvelous the longest. They remark how their Captain probably liked the boy, because he reminded him about how reckless he used to be. We find out the boy's grandfather died protecting him during the legend war (any idea who he could be?).

We see a flashback to how the Gokaigers came upon the treasure chest of awesome (my name for it). Akared saves Gokaired from a fight and gives the chest to him, tells him to live for his (Akared's) sake, and to find the greatest treasure ever.

As the Gorman (Zangyack footsoldiers) land on Earth, Gokaired gives the boy his changer, and tells him that if he defeats the Gorman, he will keep the changer, but if he doesn't, he has to give it back to him. The boy transforms into a teenage-boy-sized version of Shinkenred, and actually manages to kick some ass--until the Monster of the Week, the Action Commander Bongan, attacks him, and defeats him. Gokaired and the boy get in a heated discussion, and asks what the planet's value is. The boy says, it's everywhere, and that if they were pirates, they can figure it out themselves. Gokaired takes back the changer, and they transform. They use the final wave attack to defeat the Sugormin (slightly better Gormin) We see two costume changes: Dekaranger, Hurricanger and a bunch of reds: Gokaired becomes Shinkenred, Blue becomes Gaored, Yellow becomes Magired, Green becomes GoseiRed, and Pink becomes Gekired. However, after using these costume changes to defeat Bongan, Insarn, the Zangyack's mad scientist, uses an enlarger ray to revive Bongan and two Sugormin. GokaiOh then precedes to kick their asses.

They go back to their ship, as the boy smiles, looking after them. As Marvelous stands on the bow of the boat, the rest of the gokaigers wonder if Navi's prediction is wrong, and Navi says "not necessarily."

An then zoom out, beautiful sunset and-- wait, there is a guy in black, Navi's right--and he's wearing a cloak that's black and takes off the hood and holy crap it's Kai!

Comments:

Great second episode. Looks like they aren't losing their steam.

GokaiGalleon is anchored on to Earth and floating like a blimp on top of a bunch of buildings.

I thought Navi would be annoying, but he is so cute.

Never use Luka as a human shield. Don should know that by now. Love the running gag.

The flashback was amazing

Aw, Joe pats the teenage boy on the head as they leave to fight.

The fights and "costume changes" were amazing. I love Pink's cartwheel in the air while she's shooting, and the final wave.

Awesome mecha battle. Another important lesson, never try to turn that dial at the back of the Gokaioh--unless you want your ass kicked.

Yes! Kai's back, and more mature, and no, he isn't possessed by momotaros, his hair was like that in the epilogue in Magiranger's final episode.

The second end theme was awesome. I love how Don is set on fire by the Gingaman, and then rescued by GoGoV.

Looks like in the next episode, GokaiGreen is finally going to work up some courage with Kai's help. Kai's deep voice is kind of sexy. We also have Magidragon combining with Gokaioh. Meanwhile, Joe and the Gokaigirls transform into some black and white rangers, including two of my favorites: Big One and Ninjablack! Unfortunately, Luka won't be turning into Big One yet. (yes, I'm like the only fan that is looking forward to Luka becoming Big One).

Gokaiger First Episode

Keyhole TV was acting berserk. I love the war in the beginning. I like the henshin sequence, and what's nice about it is that they won't be wearing the same civillian clothes throughout. The fight scene was epic. I liked Gokaigreen's jumps and trapeze act. Yellow and Pink's team-up was nice too. As well, the "costume changes" were fun. They go from Goranger (and do the football attack just like in the show) to Shinkenger, to Magiranger! There were funny parts too, like when they first land on Earth, and had to announce to the citizens of Japan who they were. Gokaipink tried to use the sweet princess technique. She reminds me of Amy Adams's Character in "Enchanted." I want to see her talk to woodland creatures. And of course--curried rice! Too bad they don't get to eat it. As well, GokaiYellow is something we have never seen in Sentai before--a klepto, a cool one at that. And she had to trade in one of her rings for money. She so far is my favorite, along with red and blue. What's interesting is that the episode actually starts with a mecha battle--interesting. I like the cockpit. The ending sequence was so cool too! So far, a great series. I think I might either order Gokaired's costume for April Fools' day and walk around campus casually, or Gokai Yellow's civillian clothes. Coolest civillian clothes ever. All in all, EPIC first episode. Hope they keep it up.

My Thoughts on Gokaiger

I am so looking forward to Gokaiger. Essentially, it's like Kamen Rider Decade, in which they can transform into past warriors. I like how the series is almost very archetypal, with regards to characters and mecha. And also, PIRATES! There is nothing more fun than being a pirate (unless you're a ninja, being a ninja is equally fun).

The characters are pretty archetypal, except yellow's, unless she starts showing an affinity for curried rice. Red's the leader, Blue's the cool lancer, yellow is more tomboyish and tough, green is more of a novice, and Pink's a princess. Red does kind of deviate from the archetype along with yellow, as he is a pirate (not necessarily a crusader for good), and pushes his team sometimes a little too hard.

The mecha is pretty archetypal: Red has the biggest mech, Blue drives a jet, yellow trives a trailer, green drives a racecar, and pink drives a submarine.

Gokai Red-Captain Marvelous. Cool name, isn't it. Really cute. He sounds like a mixture between the two types of reds: the stoic leader and the reckless leader. "Always sparkling, a "wild man". Desires everything to be stimulating, and is always curious. Once he sets his aims on a target, he moves forward without flinching, no matter what. He is the type to poke his head in where it doesn't belong, and he often brandishes his crew of 4 with unreasonable orders." Nice mixture.

Gokaiblue-Joe Gibuken: Sounds like the cool type, and seems to respect red a lot which is nice, because usually the cool, blue lancer type doesn't. "A calm man, whose words are few. A compliment from this man is rare, a man with a serious personality who is hard on himself. Always training up his abilities with weapons, and never misses. Has known Marvelous the longest, and as such, he understands Marvelous the best out of the entire crew. He was originally an elite of Space Empire Zangyakku but after coming into contact with Marvelous, he becomes one of the Kaizoku Sentai Goukaiger." Also, he's really cute too!

Gokaiyellow-Luca Millfy-she sounds like the more serious yellow, and kind of deviates a bit from the glutonous yellow archetype. However, since she isn't glutonous, she's kind of a klepto, and takes being a pirate very seriously. "An active woman who dislikes needing to have a reason to act. Excels in recon and exploration, and has a strong tenacity for treasure hunting, earning her respect from her peers. However, her need to get the treasure often makes her forget the mission is in front of her, be that when it comes to the enemies, or her friends." Also, like I said in another post, she has a tomboyish side, and a side that is girly, but rarely shows. This might be an interesting conflict. I have a favoritism towards yellows, so I'm a teeny bit biased. I love her jacket, she's pretty, and look at this picture!

That is awesome. She's like Creed from the office, who is one of my favorites, only she's a girl and she's hot (although Creed is a little enticing). Creed: I like stealing things.

Gokaigreen-Don Dogoier: He reminds me a lot of Ziggy (Ziggy was the one who said, hey, you're driving a yellow teddy bear!). I love that outfit! "A man from a cautious sect that has an alarmist attitude, and always assumes the worst. He is a pacifist who causes trouble because he wants to avoid fighting. However, it is due to his quick thinking and rare brain power that compliments Marvelous' reckless attitude. Inventions from his calm judgment and clear brain often end up saving the team when they're in trouble." Looks like he'll be an integral part of keeping the team sane. The two things that tick me off is the bleached hair (I love bleached hair, but he shouldn't have bleached it too light, it doesn't fit well with his complexion), and that warm up stretch pose he does, but hey, he's new at this. He should do a Sentai work out video a la White Swan.

Gokaipink-Aim de Famille: Oh GAWD not another princess! She's probably the most archetypal out of all of them. A princess, girly, the most sympathetic. "Former Princess of a certain planet who was picked up by Marvelous in space. Has "Geniality" and "Grace" that doesn't suit a pirate, making her quite different from her 4 shipmates. If a person is in distress, she can't help but want to help them. However, because she is always looking for someone to save, she can be a pain in the neck for her teammates. Also, she loves tea." I'm having mixed feelings about her. I would love to see some conflict between her and Gokaiyellow.

Okay, now excuse me, because I'm gonna rant.

I worried about Gokaired ending up with Gokaipink. I'm a vehement Red/Yellow shipper unless it's painfully obvious that Red's gonna end up with Pink. Gokaipink's description reminds me of other sentai "Princesses" and "rich girls" like Kaori/White Swan and Sakura/Boukenpink. Red ends up with the princess most of the time, and is paired towards the more girly girl (Redmask and Pinkmask, even though there was more chemistry between him and Yellowmask). What kind of message is this to us girl next door/tomboy/non-girly types? Wear pink, be graceful and princess-like and rich, and you'll get the man in shining red armor. I doubt that the Sentai writers read this, but I would love a jetman-like love triangle between Captain, Luca, and Ahim--only this time, Gai--I mean Luca wins (Gai and Ako all the way, though). I don't know why, and I know it's too early to predict, but I have a gut feeling that based on the character types, Red and Yellow would make a better pairing, and it would be more progressive to have the action woman hook up with the leader, not the princess hooking up with him. And the fact he "saves" the princess is scary too, like she has rebellious princess syndrome, and wants to date a pirate to piss off daddy--okay, I'm getting a little carried away. All and all, please, let's make this a Red/Yellow season.

I look forward to Saturday!