Kiramager VS Ryusoulger discussion thread

[fartboy]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound so defensive. Sometimes I overexplain things

Me too. No harm no foul.

Would that be considered a reference or a recycled joke?

I think it's a reference because they snuck it in, in such a subtle scene.

[Thenosa Yechette]

I'm wondering if you guys can at least sub the ending dance video for this movie that was released on YouTube a while ago? Is that possible or would that also fall under Copyright infringement? I really love the ending dance part of this movie, so it would be great if that was subbed.

[takenoko]

Is it the one with Hakataminami? If not, which one? Can you link it?

[Thenosa Yechette]

Is it the one with Hakataminami? If not, which one? Can you link it?

I'm actually talking about this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3HnPl1tegE
And now that you've mentioned it, can you guys sub the drama based music video for "Hakase Jananaiyo, Hakata Dayo" as well? Thank you.

[windfall]

Nice to see TV-N still trucking along!

Huh, I noticed the Go Kiramagers all have their chest gems in the centre at the same time. I didn't think that should be possible.

While it's usually implied that these fights all happen simultaneously, I don't think there's any real reason why they couldn't happen sequentially. So just pretend they all activated the arrow one after the other.

[Phoenix512]

I don't even recall the Ryusoulgers sealing up the dinos or their weapons. At their weapons were easier to get to unlike Drive's arsenal.

Canalo hitting on Yodonna. He really does think his lower half.

Also it was weird that Yodonna was able to explode Canalo and Takamichi and didn't look back like a champ.

[windfall]

I don't even recall the Ryusoulgers sealing up the dinos or their weapons. At their weapons were easier to get to unlike Drive's arsenal.

Canalo hitting on Yodonna. He really does think his lower half.

Also it was weird that Yodonna was able to explode Canalo and Takamichi and didn't look back like a champ.

To be completely honest I don't quite remember all the details of the finale either, but I do recall that they used the power of the kishiryu to try and seal Heras which resulted in their ryusouls running out of power as well. Although I'm not sure why exactly they left their weapons at the statue.

[ViRGE]

After getting burnt out on Zenkaiger, it's nice to have something to watch that is, frankly, better. Kiramager was a fun-yet-grounded series, so this was a joy to watch.

Overall it's not the best VS ever, but I'll give Toei a one-time credit for COVID. The plot was definitely weaker than the action, but it seems pretty obvious that Toei was largely stuck filming on their backlots and quarries, so we ended up with a story that could accommodate that. Hence the trope-y "heroes get sucked into a movie" plot. It serves its job well enough - to setup the action and character moments - but it won't be what this movie is remembered for.

Instead, it'll be the action that everyone recalls, and for good reason. This movie had a lot of good fighting set pieces, especially given its 70 minute runtime. Swordplay, crazy chases, lots of shooting, and a cat fight. We basically got an action smorgasbord on this one, which in some ways is a nice departure from the norm by not dragging out any one fight for too long to fill out the running time. There's certainly an element of Toei making lemonade out of lemons here, but Sentai has always been better at action than writing, so they've seemingly doubled-down on what they do well since the action needs to carry the movie.

I'm not too surprised to see Sakamoto directed this as a result. Toei continues to use him as their ace in the hole on action-heavy works (and it doesn't hurt that he also directed PR's Movie Madness two-parter 20 years ago...). Though I find it interesting how little wire-fu was used here, given that it's Sakamoto's trademark. There were no big jumps, and only a couple of instances of it being used to pull actors back to signify a strong blow. Also, despite having a cat fight, there was no obvious and unnecessary leg shots.

As for character moments, I won't rattle off all of them, but most of them were good. As someone else has noted, the pairing work surprisingly well; every ranger is either a similar personality type as their opposite, or they're the complete inverse, which also pairs up well. I could have done with less Canolo - his schtick still isn't funny here - meanwhile I'm sure Luna appreciated that they got Bamba at least half-shirtless. It was also good to see Yodonna again, since competent face villains are always fun. Though her smile in the ending dance almost breaks my brain; it's too happy!

Meanwhile, the robo fight was a mixed bag. I appreciate that we got something meatier than usual and that it wasn't a by-the-numbers fight. Toei's heavy use of low angle camera cuts was inspired, especially the way they worked in the CGI. We've had plenty low angle shots before, but I cannot recall Toei ever CGIing in the terrain like that. The constant use of those shots was very disorienting, however (especially with the camera spin), which is why I don't feel it worked as well as Toei intended. Otherwise, given the CGI and how the fight was cut, I'm fairly confident that Toei filmed parts of the fight both on their usual sound stage and outdoors, which is why the low angle cuts were necessary. For those that remember, Toei also did an outdoor fight for the Ryusoulger finale, and while novel, that suffered from a lack of scale (the giant robos didn't look giant), so this is probably Toei trying other options for outdoor shoots.

Finally, I declare that Asuna wins this year's team-up hair award. I'm guessing she must have done something relatively radical with her natural hair, since I'm fairly sure that's a wig.

On a technical note, I think Toei screwed up the volume normalization on the audio downmix. VS movies are normally mixed 5.1 for home releases, but this streaming release was stereo audio. The movie frequently wavers between being very quiet and very loud, and I don't just mean the sound effects for the action scenes.

Oto looks older

She's at least a few inches taller, that's for sure. Kid had a growth spurt between seasons.

Good job pairing the two speedsters. Although is green's new thing being fast? I miss green being the weirdo or the silent type

Would that really work when half the cast tends to be weirdos these days?

Why did they lock up their changer? Ryusoulger never makes any sense

Ryusoulger never properly explained that part. So you're not more clueless than the rest of us.

Wonder how much Movie Jamen's griping about the producer being on his ass is realistic

I expect it borrows fairly heavily from reality. Especially the "Movie production is so hard" line.

Wow a Ryusoulger team super form... Although looking at it more closely, it feels like it's a discarded Kiramager super form. The chest part doesn't even align to the Ryusoulger symbol on their suit. It even looks like Kirameijn's head

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only person who had that thought. It doesn't match the Ryusoulger design motif at all. Even trying to wallpaper over it by having the Kiramagers create it still doesn't fix that problem.

Why did Garuza even come here? He just walks away slowly when he's done playing. At least Yodonna exploded the sixth rangers before she left

Garuza had no real, in-universe purpose of being there. From a production standpoint they needed someone to fight the sixth rangers, and using Yodonna in a big, bombastic fight like that is a lot of work since you constantly have to deal with the fact that her face is visible and she doesn't have a suited fighting form. Which, I assume is also why they let her get the last word in by blowing up the sixth rangers and then walking off since she won her fight; that was hilarious.

Overall, I feel like the halo around Kiramager lifted Ryusoulger to being the series it should have been. This was a fun movie that did a good job balancing between the two sentai so that it didn't feel like the Kiramagers carrying the Ryusoulgers

Agreed. This is easily one of the best Ryusoulger productions. That said, it's perhaps telling that one of the best Ryusoulger productions is also one where the Ryusoulgers didn't get a ton of individual focus; like other VS movies, they're the returning team is the supporting cast to the home team (the Kiramagers). Ryusoulger always had a lot of potential, it was just wasted on some pretty lousy scripts.

Would that be considered a reference or a recycled joke?

Technically, I think that's a double-layered meta joke with a 540 spin. The joke definitely seems to be more of a callback than a recycled joke. At the same time, the director of the VS movie really is George Spielburton, since Spielburton was played by Sakamoto. The Go-Ongers' neon sign also shows up in the casino, so it's not the only Sentai callback or easter egg in the movie.

Huh, I noticed the Go Kiramagers all have their chest gems in the centre at the same time. I didn't think that should be possible.

Yeah, that just seems to be a straight-up production error. Someone told the intern to "grab the Kiramager chest pieces" before they went out to the quarry, and said intern picked up the individual pieces.

[takenoko]

Would that be considered a reference or a recycled joke?

Technically, I think that's a double-layered meta joke with a 540 spin. The joke definitely seems to be more of a callback than a recycled joke. At the same time, the director of the VS movie really is George Spielburton, since Spielburton was played by Sakamoto. The Go-Ongers' neon sign also shows up in the casino, so it's not the only Sentai callback or easter egg in the movie.

I totally forgot about that. I'm not even sure if I got around to adding staff credits for this movie on the wiki

Edit: Interesting that SHimo Ayumi wrote the script for this one, since she wasn't a main writer for Kiramager or Ryusoulger. (Also we had been misspelling her name on the wiki for the longest time). Think Arakawa was the main writer for Kira. I'm liking Shimo's style, it's like both her and Komura were Arakawa's students, but took different lessons from his style

[Thenosa Yechette]

I LOVE LOVE LOVED this movie!!! If Go-Busters vs Gokaiger wasn't my top favorite team-up movie out of all the Sentai team-up movies I've watched so far, this would have been my top favorite.

Tameromo being concerned for Jyuuru is SO SWEET!! He just keeps making me love him even more. Although, I didn't really get why he just started yelling at Sena like that. And then again in another scene. That's kinda weird.
Why was Jyuuru overthinking? He NEVER does that... Was that only so that Koh could give him advice...? Strange...

From the finale of Ryusoulger,  I thought Towa was going to travel around the world... But why Koh....?
Why weren't they panicking or surprised when Takamichi said that Mabushiina was inside the movie? Shouldn't their reaction be more intense than just nodding and calm faces...? They only reacted when Takamichi said that the Ryusoulgers were in the movie as well.

Love the music they used here. They used the best soundtracks from Kiramager!!

Oh, Canalo... He's just a disgusting and hopeless person to me... I never thought I'd say this, but I'm kinda glad that Ryusoulger didn't have any face villains, at least no female face villain anyways. Or else I don't even want to think what might have happened...

Even though I didn't exactly love Towa's hairdo, I think the master thief getup suits the actor a lot... Makes him look mature and older. He does look quite good this way. But for Towa, I prefer the way he normally looks. And the awkward policewoman thing really suited Sena. She was really cute. And in a real race, there is NO WAY Towa will be faster than Sena. The girl's got a national track record for Pete's sake. And Towa was only fast because of the HayaSoul boost he used every time if I remember correctly. So they better not be implying that Towa is faster than her... Anyways, I LOVED their team-up. This was my favorite team-up in the movie. But I guess it could be the fact that they are my favorite characters from their series, but I also thought they hit it off so well together.

Shiguru and Bamba's team-up was nice too. The mature, calm, good-looking guys of the teams being together, is going to be very good of course.

Asuna being the rough and tough boss of the gang was so good. It fits her so perfectly, perhaps even better than her character: the sweet, peppy but strong girl. I guess I would've liked it better if she was the calm, serious and strong type. But I guess that would have just beaten the purpose of her presence in the first place. But Asuna becoming a teacher was the best thing for her character. I love that part. The out-of-suit fights involving Asuna and Sayo we're the most violent in this movie. But I did like Sayo's out-of-suit fights a lot.

What the director of the gambling movie was saying about gambling movies being 'thrilling' is SO WRONG... That was the most boring setup in an action-packed movie... And as refreshing and as suitable it is for their characters that Tametomo and Melto bonded over talking and gambling, unlike the others who bonded over fighting, I still think it was quite boring. They sidelined Tametomo and Melto like that and cut their time short. That was pathetic honestly.

The plot twists of the movies were so obvious, making the Rangers fight against the Bechats. At least the "Bad Girl Yodomko" movie's plot twist was different. They just had to fight other women.

The best thing I got from the movie was the out-of-suit and weaponless fights from the Kiramagers, specifically Tametomo. If I remember correctly, after Episode Zero, there weren't many out-of-suit fights from the Kiramagers in the series.

The references to Ui and Mana Kinjo were really sweet. I loved that.

The Bechat drawing on the board was cute. Lol.

Wow! Koh can't think, so he put the burden on Jyuuru who can't think of anything now... Nice.

Wait, Mabushiina can't cry on her own there? Her voice earlier sounded like she was on the verge of crying... At least that situation was perfect for crying...

The "Let's make it showy" thing was interesting and fun...

How did Oto get the weapons....?

Even though I love their Ki-Ra-Mei formation, it's nice and refreshing to see the Kiramagers posing without it.

Loved that they used the full Ryusoulger theme song in here. Loved it!

Why didn't Shiguru use his sword in his combo finisher with Bamba? It's his specialty and using it here would have been perfect. Yet of all times he used a ranged weapon for a finisher here?! Why...?

Gosh, even Oto is braver than Mabushiina and she is YOUNGER!! Mabushiina should stop being such a damsel in distress and learn from Oto...!

The blue diamond and Kishiryu thing was nice. Even though it was more appropriate for Kiramager, it was still kinda sweet.

I wish they involved Kleon a bit more in the movie. I thought he was fun...

I liked that Yodonna just defeated and exploded the sixth Rangers, but I was quite surprised. The rangers losing to a villain in a final fight is rare in a team-up movie.

Man, it was really fun watching Sena and Towa doing the double finger guns at Bamba...

They have still kept the "Oto crushing on Melto" thing going? Really annoying....

Canalo realizes that he can't rely on appearances alone after how many centuries exactly...? *sigh*. And choosing Mabushiina? Really?! I mean she is literally a ROCK PERSON!!!

Loved the ENDING DANCE A LOT!!! And Yodonna joining the ending dance was also very nice. It was about time!

Though her smile in the ending dance almost breaks my brain; it's too happy!

Seeing her smile normally was really good. I wish her makeup didn't cover up the most of it though.

Overall, awesome movie. The plot was pretty good. A lot of action. But whatever other flaw it may have, to me, it did well as a team-up movie.

Wow, Yodonna looked so much better as a normal person than in the other stuff I've seen her actress in. Such a difference

I agree. Yodonna looks way better as a normal person. The best I've ever seen her actress.

Good job pairing the two speedsters. Although is green's new thing being fast? I miss green being the weirdo or the silent type

I like the quiet types too. But I like the speed thing a lot as well. Since I love speed and green is my favorite color, I think these two things being together is fun.

Yodonna sure knows how to beat the slime out of a guy

Man, Yodonna beating Kleon up like that was cruel... It felt like I was getting hurt at that time...

I'm sad they used those ugly director minusaur suits instead of the giant camera head jamen guy

Yeah, using the Minusaur was bad. They should've used the Movie Jamen alone or together with the Minusaur.

Finally, I declare that Asuna wins this year's team-up hair award. I'm guessing she must have done something relatively radical with her natural hair, since I'm fairly sure that's a wig.

I thought it was her normal hair instead of a wig since the actress cut her hair after Ryusoulger.

The Ryusoulgers are an oddly good pairing for the Kiramager

Overall, I feel like the halo around Kiramager lifted Ryusoulger to being the series it should have been. This was a fun movie that did a good job balancing between the two sentai so that it didn't feel like the Kiramagers carrying the Ryusoulgers

I also think that the Ryusoulgers are a very good match for Kiramagers. I actually forgot that Ryusoulger wasn't as good a season while watching this, lol. But anyway, this movie did a good job at teaming them up and focusing on them individually. They all got enough screentime and shone perfectly.

[Lunagel]

Looking at Asuna's Twitter feed I think it's still her natural hair, just recolored.

https://twitter.com/12osaki_ichika/stat ... 95268?s=19

Warning: Bamba ass

[msf232]

Yodonna defeating the sixths looked really cool to me

The movie villain used the word 'roadshow' here. I've seen that word countless times; what exactly is denoted with that word in Japan?

[Thenosa Yechette]

The movie villain used the word 'roadshow' here. I've seen that word countless times; what exactly is denoted with that word in Japan?

I'm not sure if I'm correct, but I got the idea from its usage that 'Roadshow' means nationwide(or in this case worldwide) premier. But of course, that's my guess.

[Lunagel]

Roadshow is actually an English term that has fallen out of use with the rise of the blockbuster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadshow_ ... al_release

Essentially it just means "limited release" anymore. This could mean just not every theater nationally or a shorter time in theaters, or even just a regular release but they think "roadshow" sounds cooler

[takenoko]

So I received my Blu-ray copy recently. There's some good stuff on it, so be sure to pick up your copy at your nearest Blu-ray distribution center!

I think it's a neat detail that the different Kantoku Minusaur have different heads depending on what genre they're directing. Didn't notice that watching.

Even better, the bonus disc includes the full dances!

We've got the Tame fighting with the Ryusoul brothers during their dance. Shiguru's constant RBF is amazing. Interesting that the period drama version was shorter? Of course the girls were cute.

Best part is that they include the full Yodonna dance. Worst part is someone left a light in the background so it's just shooting beams into your eyes while you watch.

They even included the Muryou MV that they put on YouTube.