Ninninger 20 sanjou!

[takenoko]

Nah. It's not a temporary pupil. He's a pupil in a reduced capacity. The line needs to parallel the previous line of "since you surpassed me a little bit" so I had to phrase it that way.

[xPrimexTimex]

The thing that sucks is that this show has a lot of wasted potential. Kasumi at this point is still my Last Ninja but is there any use in pretending that it'll be someone other than Takaharu?

I don't mind Red-centric shows, but ya gotta make them worth focusing on! Daigo from Kyouryuuger was worth watching because of his charm and how friendly he was. Same thing with Gentarou from Fourze. Takaharu is just clueless. He's passionate, but he can be quite grating so an inherently good quality comes across as annoying. Oh well.

At some level, it does make since for Takaharu to get partnered with this specific Otomo Nin, but having the power up fight come after a scene where Takaharu is supposed to have learn something about teamwork is bad timing.

[Kamen Rider Gumo]

...... it makes me miss the Toqger mech's.

NOTHING could ever make me miss those horribly-designed, kibble-infested monstrosities. I'm loving Ninninger mostly because it ISN'T Toqger, which stands alone as the only Sentai I have ever flat-out hated. Yes, Takaharu is an idiot, but so were the Reds in Dekaranger, Magiranger, Gekiranger and Goseiger(EVERYONE in Toqger was a complete idiot; it was the villains who made that show even barely watchable). There's almost always an idiot character and sometimes it's the Red. Ninninger's music is catchy, the suits are cool, the mecha have a unique twist (I'd almost call it steampunk-ish) to their design and everything seems to have the intention of hitting you full-force. Is it style over substance? Yes; but sometimes that can be entertaining in its own right. And for me, Ninninger is hitting all the right buttons.

[Jetman]

The thing that sucks is that this show has a lot of wasted potential.

That's what I think too. It's disappointing. Ninninger has a lot of good ideas and a lot of things going for it and could be easily be so much better.

[mholden020]

The thing that sucks is that this show has a lot of wasted potential. Kasumi at this point is still my Last Ninja but is there any use in pretending that it'll be someone other than Takaharu?

If Kinji becomes the Last Ninja I will take back everything I've ever said about the show.

I watched this one earlier in the week and wanted to see what others thought of it before saying anything disparaging about it. I said a few weeks ago that I'd watch at least to episode 20 before deciding to bail or not, and even though I really dislike the series, I have a feeling that the final story arc will be something monumental. We all know that this specific episode plot has been done before, and recently, but what I thought was missing was the "thought period" where Red was told he's useless/arrogant/a moron, and then he goes and thinks for 10 or so minutes of episode time, has an epiphany, and then the entire team has a big pow-wow and takes down the MOTW. That seemed to be missing from this, and, like others have noted, it's what makes Takaharu (and the series) unlikable to me. He was told he was an idiot and then immediately figured it out, put on some Samurai armor (Which looked remarkably similar to the PR Samurai Shogun armor!) and beat the monster by himself. Let's be honest, we have Takaharu-centric episodes like this, but Yakumo's episode was about his love affair with a lawnmower. Nagi's episodes have been about school, Kasumi has MacGyver'd something out of nothing, and has there been a Fuuka episode yet? At 20 episodes in, I don't want to just bail on it and come back later, but I think letting a few episodes stack up then watching them all at once could make this period of the show much more tolerable, and hopefully it is just a down period in the show.

[Jetman]

If Kinji becomes the Last Ninja I will take back everything I've ever said about the show.

Honestly, Screen time aside, Kinji has a better claim to "main character" status than Takaharu does. We have an ongoing story about him wanting to be the Last Ninja's student and trying to meet his expectations, we've had him wrestling with self doubt and temptation, we have his tragic back story and he's a much better fit as Kyuuemon's nemesis than any of the others. I actually hope they DO make him Last Ninja. It would be a pretty ballsy move and go a long toward making up for all of Ninninger's problems.

[Kuchiri]

...... it makes me miss the Toqger mech's.

NOTHING could ever make me miss those horribly-designed, kibble-infested monstrosities. I'm loving Ninninger mostly because it ISN'T Toqger, which stands alone as the only Sentai I have ever flat-out hated. Yes, Takaharu is an idiot, but so were the Reds in Dekaranger, Magiranger, Gekiranger and Goseiger(EVERYONE in Toqger was a complete idiot; it was the villains who made that show even barely watchable). There's almost always an idiot character and sometimes it's the Red. Ninninger's music is catchy, the suits are cool, the mecha have a unique twist (I'd almost call it steampunk-ish) to their design and everything seems to have the intention of hitting you full-force. Is it style over substance? Yes; but sometimes that can be entertaining in its own right. And for me, Ninninger is hitting all the right buttons.

How about you tell us how you really feel. Also please don't compare Takaharu to Ban or Jan. At least Ban and Jan were likable. Takaharu has moments where he might be awesome, but he is just dumb.

[Go-On Macaroni]

They're not gonna make Kinji "Last Ninja". What's likely gonna happen is that either the team all get it or it ends up like with Toqger last year with Takaharu cycling through everyone's powers. It'll still end up a team effort in the end.

[mholden020]

No intent to steer the topic off course, but does anyone know how the show is doing in Japan?

[takenoko]

http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Shuriken_S ... Chronology
http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Ressha_Sen ... Chronology

Looks like it has less viewership compared to Toqger. But that's been happening for a while now.

[mholden020]

http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Shuriken_S ... Chronology
http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Ressha_Sen ... Chronology

Looks like it has less viewership compared to Toqger. But that's been happening for a while now.

Ah, that embarrassing moment when what you were looking for was right in front of you the whole time!

Thanks Take, that's exactly what I was curious about!

[Knight of L-sama]

How about you tell us how you really feel. Also please don't compare Takaharu to Ban or Jan. At least Ban and Jan were likable. Takaharu has moments where he might be awesome, but he is just dumb.

I can't speak to Ban, but I'll agree with Jan. Heck, Jan is actually one of the examples I'd use to demonstrate how to use an "instinctive" type character. As annoying as those nonsense phrases could be, they actually showed more thought than Takaharu. There was an idea there that Jan was struggling to put into words due to his limited vocabulary. Takaharu is just... dumb.

And he hasn't had moments, his had a moment. Singular. That one quiet, serious scene with Fuuka.

But narratively, Kinji becoming the Last Ninja would be interesting. While I'd still pick Kasumi if it was up to me, Kinji would have more narrative weight. It would also give some narrative weight to the grandfather's story, having him overcome his past betrayal to be able to put his trust into non-family members.

[Catastrophe]

That new theme for the robot was sweet.

[Phoenix512]

But narratively, Kinji becoming the Last Ninja would be interesting. While I'd still pick Kasumi if it was up to me, Kinji would have more narrative weight. It would also give some narrative weight to the grandfather's story, having him overcome his past betrayal to be able to put his trust into non-family members.

Gramps doesn't really trust anyone period. He probably only allow the grandchildren to be ninjas because he's just too old at this point. He's definitely rather do it himself than let anyone else do it but he can't at this point.

[Lunagel]

Well if I had Takaharu for a grandson, I wouldn't trust anyone with the title of Last Ninja either.

Let's look at this from an individual standpoint-
Takaharu is a moron
Kasumi is overqualified and probably would rather be doing something more worthwhile with her time
Yakumo would rather be doing magic
Nagi is only in it for the title (although to be frank, we haven't seen enough of Nagi in order to really figure out what his motivations are)
Fuuka is an underdeveloped character but it doesn't seem like she really cares.

Honestly Kinji is the best choice because he's actually interested in the title in order to carry on his family's legacy and has done far more to earn it at this point.

tl;dr all aboard the takaharu hate train