Ninninger 09 sanjou!

[mholden020]

As a Texan I feel personally victimized by Starninger.

As a Southerner in general I feel the same way...

At first was like, "A cheeseburger? Really??", but then I figured there have been countless shows in the US that do the same to every other culture ever in the world. So it's cool. I got a kick out of Rodeomaru.

I thought this was a good episode. Kasumi showed again that she's the team bad-a** while Taka managed to look like a fool...again. Small detail, but I thought the Finishing Shuriken looked kind of lame. I was expecting something more elaborate. The sealing shurikens look really good despite no real detail, while the Finishing Shuriken looks like it's made of card stock with some glitter on it. I was also happy to see the return of Tetraboy.

But all of that is meaningless....Where the hell did they get a cage for the mice??

[Jetman]

At first was like, "A cheeseburger? Really??", but then I figured there have been countless shows in the US that do the same to every other culture ever in the world. So it's cool. I got a kick out of Rodeomaru.

Yeah, reducing every foreign people to their most cartoonish aspects is a long standing American tradition. Hell, it's a tradition just about everywhere else too.

But all of that is meaningless....Where the hell did they get a cage for the mice??

Those ninjas are prepared for everything! Not even Batman has THAT much foresight.

[Kogashi]

Okay, first and foremost... Why are there always some big, 'has the power to destroy the world that's why we're protecting it' items? I mean wouldn't it make sense, being a Last Ninja and all, as well as having a couple generations of peace at least, to work on destroying such a CLEARLY DANGEROUS item? Maybe even working on some way to make it less end of the world-y? Just, always have that reaction to such items when not explained... Never mind the question of why would Grandpa have a fake of it just laying around so one of his kids could just take it?

I know I say this a lot, but god I love the monster designs this series.

Alright, time to talk about the giant mechanical buffalo ATV in the room... Dear lord Starnin. A, a hamburger morpher? A Guitar sword? The ATV Buffalo, Rodeomaru? Never mind how much of a spazz the combat version of it seems to be in it's scene. I dunno, I'm just so much more used to people in giant robot costumes moving slowly and kind of lumbering along to give a sense of weight to the fact that it's a giant robot... Seeing one that's moving that fast just throws me, it really does. What must that robot's fuel be? A Four Loco Red Bull blend?

[xPrimexTimex]

I also like Kasumi quite a lot. She's perceptive, confident, mature and humble. There's also a bit of mystery surrounding her because she's not as outgoing as Takaharu, but that adds to her likability rather than take away from it. I think Kasumi and Yakumo have nice chemistry together, Kasumi is quite perceptive and able to work well with Yakumo and push all the right buttons. It's extremely hard to like Takaharu because he's very one dimensional, lacks personality and charisma. You could compare him to Gentarou from Fourze, but at least Gentarou was very charismatic. Fuuka and Nagi feel more like background characters and don't have as much confidence as Kasumi/Yakumo. I'd say Yakumo is the leader of the 5 so far while Kasumi is the voice of reason. For some reason they all seem to default to Takaharu for some reason, which is a bit annoying.

Tbh I'd watch a show with just Yakumo and Kasumi. I'd find that very enjoyable.

As for the episode, it was quite good. Can't wait to see more of Staninger and his back-story.

[takenoko]

[Lunagel]

Now that I think about it, this entire episode gave lie to the "we do not hide" part. How do they get into the building? Disguise (with hiding), misdirection (making someone look the other way so they stay hidden), trick (turning a clone into a mouse so your enemy thinks you're incapacitated), and disguise again (pretending to be the enemy). This is probably their most successful venture so far and they did it by acting like ninja, by hiding.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, writers. Ninjas hide. And frankly the best two ninja of the bunch (Yakumo and Kasumi), have consistently showed that they're the best because they're not loud, brash, irritating characters. Takaharu is strong, sure, but strength alone doesn't make a ninja.

Maybe if Takaharu were actively trying to reform to be less bull-headed, but so far it seems like he's content to just muscle his way through every problem, and that's just not good character development.

[Knight of L-sama]

I'd say watching this episode has crystallised at least part of the problem I'm having with Takaharu.

Part of it's how the character is written but a large chunk of it's in execution as well. It could be just me but does anyone else find his constant cries of "I'm getting fired up" to be merely loud and lacking in any actual enthusiasm. I don't know if it's poor direction, a failing on the actor's part or some other reason (or combinations their of), but he's falling flat on that front.

As for Rodemaru... despite it and it's pilot being hyper-active I actually like it, simply because like Shinobimaru it's a very agile suit and I do hope that it and Shinobimaru get some solo fights that take advantage of that extra movement.

[Phoenix512]

I see the cowboy upstaging Takaharu that he will become even more gung-ho and ignore the other four. Just maybe Takaharu will die and the cowboy become the new AkaNinninger.

[mholden020]

I see the cowboy upstaging Takaharu that he will become even more gung-ho and ignore the other four. Just maybe Takaharu will die and the cowboy become the new AkaNinninger.

[TankCoyote]

the mech is a boxer riding an ATV bison and when they combine, they become a cowboy. 'Murica!

[Banjo]

Kasumi steals the show in almost every episode. She is quickly becoming my all-time favorite female Sentai character. And, you know, she's so damn gorgeous too!

[Kuchiri]

No one is going to comment that Starninnger's waza is 'Hurricane Ja'? I actually thought that was pretty cleaver.

I think I would be less offended if they got an american to actually play him, they did it for Kakuranger, why can't they do it again?

[Catastrophe]

I hate all the following things: How early the 6th gets introduced, the fact it's gold again, and the whole American thing they are doing.

I do like the introduction with a mech fight before his actual introduction (although they could have saved the robot form) and I do like the mecha itself.

[msf232]

Did Starninger's voice change in the last scene?

[takenoko]

In what sense? It's the same actor, albeit more menacing.