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Samurai Sentai Shinkenger


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Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (侍戦隊シンケンジャー)

TV Asahi/Toei Company, Ltd., 2009-2010

Currently being exploited by Saban Brands as Power Rangers Samurai

Directed by Shōjirō Nakazawa, Satoshi Morota, Noboru Takemoto, Katsuya Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kato and Takao Nagaishi

Written by Yasuko Kobayashi (I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, Shakugan no Shana), Akatsuki Yamatoya and Daisuke Ishibashi

Running Time: 25 minutes per episode

Number of Episodes: 49

Not Rated (Suggested TV-PG). Contains martial arts violence and mild language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZNhjokW2R8

一筆奏上!

"Ippitsu Sojo!"

("One Stroke, Imperial Report!")

Cast

Tori Matsuzaka as Takeru Shiba/Shinken Red

Hiroki Aibe as Ryunosuke Ikenami/Shinken Blue

Rin Takanashi :wub: as Mako Shiraishi/Shinken Pink

Shogo Suzuki as Chiaki Tani/Shinken Green

Suzuka Morita :wub: as Kotoha Hanaori/Shinken Yellow

Keisuke Sohma as Genta Umemori/Shinken Gold

Koichi Tochika (Hyuga in Naruto, Taishi in Comic Party) as DaiGoyou (voice)

Goro Ibuki as Hikoma Kusakabe

Runa Natsui :wub: as Kaoru Shiba/Princess Shinken Red

Kazuyuki Matsuzawa as Toshizo Tanba

Rintaro Nishi as Doukoku Chimatsuri (voice)

Mitsuru Karahashi (Naoya/Snake Orphnoch in Kamen Rider 555) as Juzo Fuwa

Romi Park (Edward in Fullmetal Alchemist, Elena in Devil May Cry) as Usuyuki/Dayu Usukawa (voice)

Cho (Jaken in InuYasha) as Hone no Shitari (voice)

Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, Kou in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory) as Akumaro Sujigarano (voice)

Hironori Miyata (Fuuraimaru in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger) as the Narrator

天下御免の侍戦隊. シンケンジャー、参る!!

"Tenkagomen no Samurai Sentai... Shinkenger, Mairu!!"

("The Samurai Sentai authorized by divine providence... Shinkenger, going forth!!")

Synopsis

For hundreds of years, the samurai of the Shiba House have protected mankind from a band of evil spirits known as the Gedoushuu. Several years after being sealed away, Doukoku Chimatsuri sends his Ayakashi and Nanashi army to once again wreak havoc on Earth, causing the combined grief and suffering of mankind to slowly raise the levels of the Sanzu River for the Gedoushuu to stage a full-scale assault on humanity. To combat this threat, Takeru Shiba, the 18th Head of the Shiba House, must assemble all of his vassals to form the Shinkengers.

Lowdown

Not too long after Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger got me back into Super Sentai, I decided to check out the back catalog to see what I missed after Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. And with that, I discovered a new favorite in Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.

Shinkenger takes all of the great parts of Super Sentai and mixes it with Japanese culture and epic Samurai Cinema, resulting in a show that is uniquely Japanese with its excellent array of characters from the firm leader Takeru to the extremely kawaii Kotoha-chan to the annoying yet badass Genta. No doubt that the production team worked really hard on developing this series, having researched on Japanese mythology to flesh out the show's villains and mystical elements.

Originally, I was not impressed by the suit designs, but after watching a few episodes, they grew on me quickly. The Shinkenger suits take a very minimalist approach to the Super Sentai style while incorporating traditional Samurai elements at the same time. Plus, the helmet designs are based on the kanji of the members' mojikara (or the natural element of their abilities). Having them armed with Shinkenmaru katanas results in some of the most awesome sword fights you'll ever see. As for the mecha, the show has its share of overkill and clusterfrakks, but it all comes down to Shinkenoh, the Shinkengers' main unit and undoubtedly one of the most badass giant robot designs ever made. And let's not forget the music. The series has a remarkable array of BGM tracks, but they're all topped by the badass opening theme by Psychic Lover (Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Witchblade).

In short, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger is undoubtedly one of the greatest Super Sentai titles ever made and a milestone in Japanese entertainment. It's just too bad Saban smeared all over this epic with their Power Rangers version.

Rating: A-

Links

Super Sentai Official Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Homepage

Toei's Official Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Homepage

TV Asahi's Official Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Homepage

References

Anime News Network

JEFusion

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And now for the other side of this review:

prsamurai.jpg
Power Rangers Samurai
Toei Company, Ltd./Saban Brands, 2011-2012
Based on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger by Toei Company, Ltd.
Running Time: 22 minutes per episode
Number of Episodes: 40
Rated TV-Y7FV for martial arts violence.

"Centuries ago in Japan, Nighlok monsters invaded our world. But samurai warriors defeated them with power symbols passed down from parent to child. Today, the evil Nighlok have risen once again and plan to flood the Earth. Luckily, a new generation of heroes stand in their way. They are the Power Rangers Samurai."



"Go Go Samurai!"

Cast
Alex Heartman as Jayden/Red Samurai Ranger
Najee De-Tiege as Kevin/Blue Samurai Ranger
Erika Fong as Mia/Pink Samurai Ranger
Hector David, Jr. as Mike/Green Samurai Ranger
Brittany Anne Pirtle as Emily/Yellow Samurai Ranger
Steven Skyler as Antonio/Gold Samurai Ranger
Rene Naufahu (Emperor Grumm in Power Rangers S.P.D.) as Mentor Ji
Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier (reprising his previous role from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers)
Felix Ryan as Spike Skullovitch
Jeff Szusterman as Master Xandred (voice) and Octoroo (voice)
Ricardo Medina, Jr. (Cole/Red Ranger in Power Rangers Wild Force) as Deker
Kate Elliott as Dayu (voice)
Derek Judge (Blueheads in Power Rangers S.P.D.) as Serrator (voice)

"Rangers Together, Samurai Forever!"

Lowdown
Okay, I'll make no bones about it - I've hated Power Rangers ever since Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers hit the airwaves back in 1993. And it's not just because I grew up watching original Super Sentai titles such as Choudenshi Bioman and Hikari Sentai Maskman. Sure, there's the ever-catchy theme song, but the acting by the Power Rangers cast members is horrible, the scripts are cheesy in a bad way and the fight scenes just don't match up with those of the original Japanese footage. I've tried to give at least one season a chance, and that was Power Rangers S.P.D. in 2005. Unfortunately, it pissed me off more than anything with its bastardization of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger's elements.

So when Haim Saban bought back the rights to the franchise from Buena Vista Entertainment in 2010, I thought perhaps he would give it a fresh start with Samurai Sentai Shinkenger - which is undoubtedly one of the best Super Sentai titles ever made. I thought wrong.

Power Rangers Samurai is a really bad attempt at being a faithful adaptation of Shinkenger. The main problem with that is the fact that nearly all of Shinkenger's elements are culturally impossible to simply port over to a western environment. First off, why are these gaikokujin samurai in the first place? You can come up with a thousand theories on why Americans are carrying around Japanese mythical powers passed down for generations, but I just don't see it. The premise of a samurai lord and his vassals works in Japanese cinema, but in an American setting, it doesn't make sense. Some characters had to be changed to better suit a western audience; most notable is Kevin the Blue Samurai Ranger, who is a former Olympic swimmer instead of a kabuki actor. As a result of this alteration, at least one episode loses a punchline that was originally delivered by Shinken Blue. Another example is Antonio the Gold Samurai Ranger, who is simply a fish vendor with no ambition in life compared to Shiken Gold. Another problem lies in one of Shinkenger's most important elements: the kuroko. These stagehands in black are the lifeblood of the Shinkengers' operations, from setting up the battlefield to simple household chores. In Power Rangers Samurai, however, they don't exist, making one wonder who the hell is helping Mentor Ji clean up after the Rangers?

And then there's the acting. As I mentioned earlier, acting is usually horrible and the script is egregiously childish in every Power Rangers series, but this lineup makes you grind your teeth with them just reading the cue cards and hoping no one would notice. The characters themselves are pathetic - Jayden makes The Fuccons look lively with his wooden acting, Kevin has no personality, Mia is pretty boring, Mike is a complete dork, Emily is cute but too "blonde" for her role, Mentor Ji just stands there chanting philosophical phrases and Antonio is undoubtedly one of the worst actors ever. Oh yeah, and just to entice the old fans, Bulk returns to the show and is teamed up with Spike, the son of his best friend Skull. Their slapstick vignettes are lame as ever.

So once again, it'll be a long time before I find a Power Rangers title I can actually tolerate. Maybe their future adaptation of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger won't be so bad, I hope.

Rating: D-

Links
Nickelodeon's Official Power Rangers Samurai Homepage

References
The Internet Movie Database
Wikipedia Edited by areaseven
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Power Rangers Samurai tries to bring back the magic that was the beginning of the franchise.

I began to see since the first season in 1995, and I liked her.

Unfortunately, the lack of good scripts, the program became very repetitive.

Deteriorated further when Disney bought the rights and took off with the franchise.

Of course we had some good moments (like PR:RPM), bad (PR:NinjaStorm) and totally dispensable (PR:Mystic Force).

Now that we have it back to the creator. Let's see how it will do to adapt (not so bad, please), the rest of the sentai franchise.

Further Gokaiger, which chronicles the adventures of the old sentai from the beginning.

I thought I would do a PR of Genseishin Justirisers, but as the Toho, was saved^^

P.S. Oh yeah, great topic^^

Edited by Old_Nash
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Super Robot Chogokin Shinkenoh (スーパーロボット超合金 シンケンオー)
Bandai, 2011
Made in China

シンケンオー天下統一!
"Shinkenoh, Tenkatoitsu!"
("Shinkenoh, United Under Providence!")

Contents
Shinkenoh (シンケンオー) figure
Extra hands (x4)
Daishinken (ダイシンケン) sword
Hiden Shield (秘伝シールド)
Splitting "Slash" (斬) effect parts with stand

The first Super Sentai robot to get the Super Robot Chogokin treatment, Shinkenoh is the Shinkengers' primary mecha - formed from the five giant animal Origami. As with all SRC figures, Shinkenoh is non-transformable, but it boasts diecast metal parts, extreme detail and articulation not found in the Deluxe or Minipla versions. The sculpt makes the figure very close to resembling the robot suit used in the TV series while retaining characteristics of the DX toy such as folded hinges and some of the animal heads tucked in. The figure has over 25 points of articulation, resulting in all kinds of crazy poses you can think of. Almost no detail is spared on this figure, with every panel having a different texture like the DX toy. And like most SRC figures, Shinkenoh is compatible with any Tamashii Stage display stand.

Shinkenoh's sword Daishinken is finely crafted with a metallic finish and an illustration of the five Origami etched on the blade. The Hiden Disk clips on the back or left shoulder, or can be held on the left hand. The figure's double ball-jointed shoulders enable it to hold the Daishinken with both arms for the Daishinken Samurai-giri (ダイシンケン侍斬り) finisher. and to fully replicate the finisher, the figure comes with a display stand that holds a sign that reads "斬" (slash) and can be posed to split the kanji.

Unfortunately, for the retail price of 5,040 yen, that's all you're getting in the package. Gokaioh and Dekaranger Robo have more bells and whistles (as well as bonus effect parts for pre-ordered units) at the same price. As a result, many online retailers such as HobbyLink Japan have slashed the price to 4,080 yen. If you can find a better deal than that, get it. Otherwise, if you love giant robots and samurai, then don't hesitate to pick up Shinkenoh.

Detail: A-
Features: B-
Articulation: A
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