Ryusoulger 03 released

[Mandalori]

My feelings exactly. As much as i enjoyed kyouryuugreen being a collosal dickbag, i can't get past the "suicide as a solution" plot point 3 episodes in to this show for small children. ESPECIALLY when they specifically showed and named Aokigahara in episode 1.... What is the point they are trying to make here and is a children's show really the platform to make that point?

I am with you guys on this too. Trying to commit suicide is not something should be shown in Super Sentai series, where children are the major audiences. I really lose the interest to write what is good about this episode too. Sacrificing yourself for the sake of others is noble but doing it through suicide is more INSANE than asking someone to kill you. I would had it fine if Ui ask Asuna to kill her but trying to commit suicide is more scary. Oh and just wish Asuna had slapped Ui for her foolishness that is not even sensible.

I think the point is to say the suicide is a bad thing since she's not going through it at the end, being dissuaded by Asuna. You can't solve problems if you run away from them and I'm pretty sure that not mentioning it when it's a possibility in the plot qualify as running away from the problem, like suicide is. Beside, considering the all teenager suicide recently, I think it's a good think to actually address that early on, on the show and with young audience. Children aren't the only one who watch that show and I think the production is considering that now, seeing all the Toku thing aimed at older audience. Beside, children's intelligence mostly come from how you view and treat them ("it's an adult issue" vs explaining the situation).

Is there some sort of deep seated misogyny going on here? Why does pink's strong form of armor include a ball and chain?

That is really reaching? I think it's pretty cool that at least the lone female ranger gets a big, forceful weapon as opposed to a dainty rapier or something.

Where do you see the misogyny in that? She use it because she's the only one strong enough to use it.

[Mxylv]

Well, to start off, the episode didn't have any forced exposition, and the first few minutes of this one were far more enjoyable than the first bit of the last one. RyuusoulBlue having his own mini-arc was also a welcome shift of focus after a mostly Red-focused last two. With that said, the monsters' one-word motif is getting kinda stale for me (and this is the second monster). I'd agree that the writers probably wanted an anti-suicide story that convinces people they still have value beyond the practical, but I've been bad at seeing the impact of such topics before and yeah, they needed to either skip it or have it be subtle enough to go straight over kids' heads. There are plenty of better ways to talk about human life's dignity and value than that (a problem I'd initially missed, but the more I look at it in hindsight the worse it gets).

In terms of the new Ryuusoulgers, they certainly could've been worse, but that wasn't quite enough to save them. RyuusoulBlack's utilitarian coldness works as a contrast to the others' chivalry and idealism, though RyuusoulGreen doesn't seem workable in the least. Being both utilitarian and cheery at the same time is something even the secondary riders I've seen avoided, and now I can see why; I'm sure he'll have a character arc over the series, but I think Toei succeeded a little too well in giving him an unlikable start. If nothing else, I can at least see why the two walked away from training.

[Catastrophe]

I guess that the Minosaur gradually growing gets rid of the normal formula, but it's quite boring having one fight against the team that they escape from and then grow giant.

[Lunagel]

Yeah, it's the same Wizard problem. It's no fun watching something you know they're going to fail at.

[resop2]

That is really reaching? I think it's pretty cool that at least the lone female ranger gets a big, forceful weapon as opposed to a dainty rapier or something.

Where do you see the misogyny in that? She use it because she's the only one strong enough to use it.

"ball and chain" is a pejorative term for one's wife. (Sorry about the middle aged man joke.)

[Lunagel]

"ball and chain" is a pejorative term for one's wife. (Sorry about the middle aged man joke.)

That image only exists in English so I think we can safely dismiss it

[HowlingSnail]

Ah shite, must've accidentally changed style somehow, v2

I also managed to post it in the wrong thread, so both of us are messing up.

"ball and chain" is a pejorative term for one's wife. (Sorry about the middle aged man joke.)

That image only exists in English so I think we can safely dismiss it

I've also never heard that phrase before, so I think it's really clutching at straws.

[midorininger]

Perhaps the series will be a very dark and emotionally driven series. I think it would be interesting and a breath of fresh air. when i watch older sentai series, Dairanger and Ohranger, they just seemed so much more ... intense than newer generations. But 1 question, the Minusaur was giant already and it wasnt complete yet. so ... how big can a minusaur get when its complete?
its almost like Sailor Moon how the monsters are made, or perhaps GaoGaiGar with the zonders. i wonder what levels of despair the future victims will far to?

Let's wait until episodes 6-10 to see if they are rushing the plots, becuase they did start late, they may be rushing the story to make up for time.

[takenoko]

Are they rushing the story? What exactly is the main driving force for the protagonists at this point. To find the Kishiryuu? To stop the bad guys? Maybe they should rush to make the characters likable instead of squandering it inexplicably.

[dryedmangoez]

I think this episode came a couple of episodes too early. We haven't seen enough of Ui and her relationships with her father and the Ryusoulgers to really have a story like this have a major emotional impact.
And that's even without the direct implication that Ui was contemplating suicide. The fact that she directly pointed out feeling inadequate/less than her father and the Ryusoulgers combined with learning last week that she grew up without many (if any) friends suggests she may have been struggling with something for a while.

I obviously don't expect either toku series to deal with something as heavy as this very well. They treated Misao's obvious mental health struggles as some kind of punchline in Zyuohger. But I think Ryusoulger could've done something meaningful with this same premise, in a more careful way.

[Snarkwing]

My feelings exactly. As much as i enjoyed kyouryuugreen being a collosal dickbag, i can't get past the "suicide as a solution" plot point 3 episodes in to this show for small children. ESPECIALLY when they specifically showed and named Aokigahara in episode 1.... What is the point they are trying to make here and is a children's show really the platform to make that point?

I am with you guys on this too. Trying to commit suicide is not something should be shown in Super Sentai series, where children are the major audiences. I really lose the interest to write what is good about this episode too. Sacrificing yourself for the sake of others is noble but doing it through suicide is more INSANE than asking someone to kill you. I would had it fine if Ui ask Asuna to kill her but trying to commit suicide is more scary. Oh and just wish Asuna had slapped Ui for her foolishness that is not even sensible.

This isn't even a 'but this is in a Kids show' matter either, since other kids shows have dealt with this in far more tasteful ways; The Gundam Franchise in example doing such better. And shows aimed at Teens and Adults who have dealt with the matter of suicide in the manner Ryusoulger has chosen to (For a Western series example, see the backlash against Netflix's "13 Reasons Why" from suicide prevention organizations and supporters) Has gotten the same type of flack for dealing with this subject matter this callously. Trying to frame unnecessary suicide as a noble act, as Ryusoulger contextually is doing...is really damn offensive for anyone who has dealt with Suicidal depression or had a loved one who has killed themselves. As often series who try to use it this way are trying to put on a guide of being dark and mature...only to end up treating it all in an exceedingly juvenile manner.
Again, this shouldn't be so surprising, this would be the...I think fourth or fifth time Modern Toei series has done this and the third sentai I can remember doing that by promoted the 'suicide is noble' nonsense (people mass-dropped Kyuranger when Lucky stated that crap early in its run), and it gets called out hard and fast when they do; but Toei's producers always seems to redirect the bile sent at a series for it to some other factor instead of a fundamental failing to think 'Hey, should we actually do this?'

I mean, Ui's been around these incidents and has *Watched* the Ryusoulger fix the issue without killing anyone or the victim offing themselves even though it's only been two episodes, what makes this all worse is *SHE KNEW* they could save her with no big deal and had *NO REASON* to act as she did. Though with the series opening with her screwing around in Aokigahara in a manner that last year was directly stated to be disrespectful, it does nothing but compound the error. Had this been a victim of the week doing this with no knowledge of that it...still wouldn't be okay, but it would've been more understandable, especially if Green and Black Encountered the victim first so they were working under a false presumption instead of someone who has regularly been interacting with the freaking cast to know better than that.

Those two likely have also sundered any goodwill towards them by viewers as well, considering encouraging someone to kill themselves through the actions one takes tends to be a moral event horizon one rarely comes back from. Pretty much as far from Knightly conduct as one could feasibly get.

But Much Like Sougo over in Zi-O with how Ui is being portrayed here, the show seems to be trying to drive home the fact that they're doing awful, morally-objectionable things because they're lonely and trying to fill a void, but the same problem persists with them that the reason they are lonely and shunned by those their peers is they keep doing awful things and act oblivious to the world around them; their refusal to thus do so and injecting their own thus making others not WANT to be around them. But Their callous conduct is the problem and WHY they were alone, and they don't see that they could have gotten the companionship they really wanted had they reflected on their actions and chosen to change themselves instead of obsessing over something that won't get them what they actually want or need. Both shows however seems to have taken the route of patching over a fundamental character flaw without addressing the core misconduct, and are worse for it as a result.

[Catastrophe]

This episode feels like three episodes mashed into one.

1) Youtube girl having doubts/being lonely and the Ryusoulgers reassuring they are friends (should have come later).
2) Whatever Blue was going through this episode with his robot partner. I still do't get what it was supposed to be.
3) Green and Black showing up and being more hardass than the main team.

I don't know why they did this, but it is the reason this episode feels odd.

[fartboy]

Are they rushing the story? What exactly is the main driving force for the protagonists at this point. To find the Kishiryuu? To stop the bad guys? Maybe they should rush to make the characters likable instead of squandering it inexplicably.

I'm curious: is it possible for you guys to dislike something so much that you'd stop subbing it mid-series? Or do you have some sort of personal code that would prevent such a thing?

[takenoko]

I feel like if we could do that, we'd have quit during Ninninger or KyuuRanger.

[ViRGE]

I actually kind of liked this episode at first. But the more I think about it, the less I like it in retrospect. It's just doing too many things at once, and doing them too early. As someone else noted, the problem of the week would have worked a lot better around episode 20, when the characters are better established. Though I suppose this is one way to establish them; we're now acutely aware Ui is lonely.

The suicide thing is definitely odd. But I also appreciate that it was handled in a straightforward and serious manner. Suicide was an answer, but not the best one. Whether this is appropriate for Japanese kids is a whole other matter, however.

And I've finally figured out what's bothering me about the mecha: they look like toys. I mean, they are toys/models, but Toei has always done such a good job of making them seem larger than life. However, something about that is not working here. The transformation sequences look like models moving about and being stuck together. Maybe it's the lego pegs? Or the simple, primary color-heavy design of the mecha? I dunno. But the scale just seems off.