Okay, I'm interested in hearing about your opinions on my Maskman adaptation. I mainly want to hear what you think about the characters.
The Characters
Takeru/Red Mask: Yes, I'm keeping the same name. Takeru is from Japan originally, and went to the US when he was six. Because he was new, he became a brat as a coping mechanism. As well, he showed martial arts proficiency at an early age. He later grew out of being a brat, and started competing in tournaments, making his way to black belt at the age of thirteen. Suguta chose him to be the leader and first member of the Maskman.Takeru can make some rash decisions from time to time, although most of his decisions are clear-headed and logical. However, when he makes a mistake, he distances himself from the team. He does have a mischievous side, and enjoys watching Japanese B-movies and playing pranks, some of them really horrible, but funny. He is the strongest member and the first member to have the God Hands manifest themselves. He is wise, however he didn't realize that another team member is crushing on him hard. And he didn't realize that his team members hated his new girlfriend--who happened to be a spy for the Tube. My concern is making him three-dimensional.
Ken/Black Mask: The second oldest and second member to join the team. Ken was a boxer in high school, but accidentally severly injured an opponent, causing him to lose confidence. Suguta, who was looking for possible candidates told his coach that he should take up kung fu, and regain his confidence, which he did. If an innocent person gets injured, Ken takes it to heart. Ken knows Takeru the longest, is good friends with Daria, hates Kao, and is in love with Magenta. He is ready to take the helm of team leader if Takeru can't fight, as evidenced in the first three episodes. Ken is somewhat of a misogynist, and can get on Magenta's nerves. Magenta is initially repulsed by him. Ken is also a skilled mechanist.
Kao/Blue Mask: Still a Junior in high school, and the last member to join the team. Kao's mother brought him from China to the US when he was a little baby. Kao's mother supports herself and her son with her Chinese restaurant. Kao cares for his mother deeply, and feels like she sacrificed a lot to raise him. Kao was trained in Chinese longsword by his mother, and is the Captain of his high school's fencing team. Kao is a skilled bike rider, skateboarder, and skater. Kao is not an overachiever. He is horrendous at math, and is only really good at linguistics. Other students expect him to be good at math and pressure him. Kao is incredibly busy, along with being a Maskman, he is still a high school student, and sometimes helps in his mother's restaurant, causing him to fall asleep in classes, and to sometimes lag in his other duties. He is extremely quick-witted, and tries to act mature, and is possibly the only sane member on the team. Kao is a really good cook as well, and Suguta picked wisely.
Daria/Yellow Mask: The third member to join the team, Daria is a ninja, initially trained in kenpo. Daria is extremely tomboyish, and tries not to express her true feelings. Daria lived a nice life growing up, until her parents lost their jobs, and decided to market her and her little sister off as teen idols. Daria's sister Melody was chosen over her, and this caused Daria to pick fights, resulting with her getting beaten up. Although Daria received detention, she also was ordered to learn kenpo, as an outlet for what was going on at home. However, Daria's true talents for ninjitsu shined as she escaped a moving tour bus, and ran away to continue her kenpo training, the one thing that made her happy. She is the only person outside of her parents, and her sister's manager to know that they used payola to make her sister famous, and uses this to her advantage. She was then trained in ninjitsu, throughout high school and college (NINJA 101 lol). Like the other Maskmen, Daria is at the top of her field of expertise. Daria works as a stand-in and stuntsperson, instead of teaching ninjitsu. Daria has a huge crush on Takeru, with whom she watches Japanese B-movies with on Tuesdays, and plays pranks on and with. It would be wise to avoid Takeru and Daria during Halloween, April Fool's, and August, because there aren't any holidays in August, therefore its prank month.As a running gag, Daria will hold up a shuriken if someone pisses her off. Daria hides her feminity, and after Takeru started dating Mina, Daria started hiding it more. When the series started, Daria had discarded a large amount of her femininity, saying that ninjas have to do it. However, she gradually starts revealing more (nice ambiguous statement, isn't it), and reveals that she has feelings for Takeru. But will she end up with him? Or spoiler alert, will Mina become unfrozen!
Magenta/Pink Mask: Magenta is the new age, hippie, college student member of the team. Magenta's mother taught her tai chi. As the second youngest, and second to last member to join the team, Magenta is extremely close to Kao. Magenta is a free spirit, but a team member as well. She is an extreme feminist and activist in general. A college student, Magenta is busy as well, and teaches her martial art along with Takeru and Ken at the gym. She is sometimes at her wit's end with Ken, and is very politically correct. As a child, Magenta suffered from a new illness called Osiris Syndrome, and was the first reported case. It turns out, this was part of a tube plot, that involved time travel--it was very convoluted. As a sign of her powers as a Maskman, Magenta was able to purge the disease out of her system, by perfecting tai chi. Magenta is into spiritual healing, and a vegetarian. She is a nice person, and believes in karma, however, she longs to have a chance to be mean. She can get extremely angry when provoked, and is usually angry during that certain time of the month--you know--something that Daria has to explain to the rest of the team. Magenta has a philosophy that what grows in the ground is good... anything... It's hard to tell if she's on a spiritual high or just plain...okay, you guys should get it. All and all, a great balance for the team.
