[DISCUSSION] Super Sentai Saikyou Battle!!

This week on "Keeping Up with the Super Sentai"...

Welcome to the discussion thread for the TV mini-series "Super Sentai Saikyou Battle!!".
(Series' title translation may vary depending on your fansub group of choice.)
This thread is being made because it's only going to be 4 episodes long. Hardly enough of a reason to make discussion topics for each individual episode.

This thread was made with Toku Prime's permission. And remember, this is a SPOILER ZONE! If you are trying to avoid spoilers, this is not the place for you.​

 

Okay! Here we go. (Get ready, people. I have a huge wall of text to share)

Episode 1:
Gotta say, this was way better than I thought it was going to be! Can't believe there was some pre-determined negativity towards this.

My one complaint was that red ranger collage before the opening theme. The way the camera kept rapidly zooming out to show the next red ranger after the next was both painful to my eyes and gave me a little bit of motion sickness. If I had just picked one thing to focus on, either the subs or the visuals, I would have been fine. But trying to focus on both was painful...

After that, I can't compliment the premise of this show enough! I know everyone loves those "Who'd win in a fight" scenarios, but this it the first time I can enjoy one as an adult. Usually, those kind of stories are taken so seriously to the point where heroes are either fighting to the death or putting everything they have on the line. I don't like those set ups because no one really wins in the end; fans of both sides are forced to pick one, people that should be comrades end up ruining their friendships, and the real villains end up getting away because the heroes were distracted with in-fighting.
BUT HERE...!
The heroes, specifically Patran #1 and Zyuoh Eagle, recognize that this is NOT a fight to the death or anything. It's just a friendly sparring session to see who is the strongest. No negative consequences! The fans don't have to pick a side, the heroes aren't splitting apart, and any potential villains are not being ignored. Granted, the show can undercut this with heroes having a sit-down and talking things out instead. But sometimes that can be more satisfying than the tired trope of "Argh! I'm angry and I'm gonna fight you, even though this is all a misunderstanding that could easily be avoided!".

The Rita here is definitely not a Repulsa. If anything, she's an extreme opposite. Makes me wonder what her contingency plan is for Gaisorg or if that's just going to be part of a bait-and-switch reveal. Besides the two red I mentioned above, I like how the various Sentai heroes can just talk about things mid-battle and trust the winners to do what's right. This is what I'd expect them to do if the various Super Sentai through the ages have all met in some capacity and acknowledged each other as equal heroes. I know it's still up for debate whether or not all of Super Sentai exists in a shared universe or not, but if they do, stuff like this supports it. And I like how this special is making a prologue for Ryusoulger. They didn't have to do that, but they did, so that's gonna be cool.

Last but not least, I find it interesting that Over-Time has translated "GoGo Sentai" as "Rumbling Sentai". I can't help but wonder if they agreed that was the best way to translate it, or if they were just being a little lazy and went with the quickest/easiest translation option. Wouldn't be the first time they did something like that.

 

The premise of this show is weak, but I like the idea of a show that has various Sentai members teaming up. I'd be more excited if this was the new show rather than having Kyoryuger 3 ~Zyuranger Remix~.

Too much Zyuoh Eagle, though. Man. I think he's too damn boring to focus so much on.

I'm hoping there's some surprises in the final two episodes, that not EVERYTHING has been leaked.

 

I haven't even been paying attention to this at all. I figured if I'm going to watch it, it will be after all 4 episodes are out but even then I'm not sure I care enough.

 

Episode 1 Review:
The premise is nothing special but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this! Loved the cameos of Bouken Sliver and Go-on Red. The Oddball team is great. I can already feel the bond among the members. But I wished Captain Marvelous had top billing instead of Yamato. The overall plot is driven by the Gokai Red and Galsourg feud anyway. So why focus on Zyuoh Eagle? The theme song is great too.


Episode 2 Review:
Great episode, they toned down Takaharu's annoying personality and screaming. Seems like the writers learned their lesson after that disastrous Ninninger series. I enjoyed the twist at the end and once again another cool cameo from a Legend Ranger. Gao Red was great in this even though, fans might not be happy to see him job out to Zyuoh Eagle. The wish that Yamato wanted was really sad and was not what I expected. Also cool to see Marvelous busting out the Gokai Changes. Always a treat to see those keys! Great episode that really gets you rooting for our protagonists.

 

Weak premise or not, this thing already blows every single SS crossover since at least Gokaiger vs Gavan out of water, simply by the virtue of not being bad or boring. Pretty much all of Kamen Rider crossovers as well (not that it's much of an achievement but stil).
I just wish Toei would stop shoving dozens of pointless suits into everything already. I'd rather see this team go against some of the previous villians rather than another Taisen-like tournament.

Is focus on Yamato such a big issue? Zyuohger didn't have a VS movie with Kyuranger (which would have sucked probably, but still), so he deserves focus more than any of the recent Reds.
It's not like he has focus for the sake of focus either. His wish is simple but pretty moving, his fighting scene in Episode 2 was great and I can't imagine Hiromu, King, Raito, Lucky, Takaharu, Keichiro, Kairi or even Marvelous pulling big emotional hot-blooded but still sweet Red moment like this. Not to mention he gets Kakeru's seal of approval, what else do you need?
Another note is how Keichiro instantly surrenders after hearing Yamato's wish. No out of character bullshit, just K being K. Already miss that guy.

 

That's a good point about maybe making up for Zyuohger not getting to come back for a Versus movie.

And while he's the Red of Sentai's 40th anniversary, I DO find the focus on him puzzling, because it's not like Zyuohger was well liked. (And Zyuoh's producer isn't working on this 4-ep special, so it's not a case of an egocentric producer.) Of the five returning people the press focused on (team oddball), he's definitely gotten most attention. If he was the only Red there, that would be one thing.

 

I kinda see why they made Yamato the central figure. Out of the core five of this story, he's the one who acted as a peacemaker for his own team and kept them united. So it makes sense that he forms the center of this team too.

Also, that moment in episode two where the Zyuohger theme hit was pretty cool.

I'm also very glad that they seemed to have realized that screaming Takaharu was about as welcome as an STD and have turned the volume down. The actor seems a lot more at home with the more toned down version of the character too, though I guess that could just be the intervening years of further acting experience.

On the flip-side, Marvelous felt a little out of character for much of these first two episodes. I'm not sure why, as revenge was was always at least partially the motivation for the Gokaigers, but I guess so was caring about his crew (for example, their summer movie where he used up the wish-granting treasure they were after to save the others).

 

Yamato just doesn't have a personality or presence. He's a total blank, but I guess that helps the writers do whatever they want with him.

It would have been nice if Toei just had the guts to have Noboru Kaneko at the center of the show. If one of the reasons this miniseries exists is to celebrate Heisei Super Sentai, then...well, Gaoranger's one of the most popular Heisei shows, Kaneko one of the most popular Red actors.

Kaneko's at a point in his career where he can do something like this more easily, and Toei owes him, too. (Or that's my theory, anyway -- I've always suspected he was meant to be the Red rounding up the Dream Team in Boukenger VS Super Sentai, but they couldn't schedule it. Well, why else is Tsuetsue in the movie, then?)

And maybe the oddball team could use a shaman like Kakeru, considering who they're facing in the next (and final) episode! You could also have easily given him the "wanted to help a boy who loved animals" storyline.

 

But if Yamato is bland (to which I diasgree btw, but whatever), doesn't it make sense to give HIM stories like that, so that character can have a bit more meat on him?

Yeah, I though it was pretty obvious as well.

 

Episode 3 Review:
This show just keeps getting better! I like how all the Rangers in the oddball team get their screentime. Stinger staying true to his investigative role from Kyuranger and Kagura showing that she's the strongest out of all the Toqger. I was actually a bit teary when they showed what her wish was the restaurant business and bringing families together. The fights were also great in this episode especially the Zyuoh Eagle and Gokai Red team up, just badass.

To nobodies surprise, Rita actually turned out to be evil and is trying to resurrect Great Satan from Zyuranger. I just enjoy all these references and guest appearances from past Rangers. I even go as far as saying that if this was the 45th anniversary celebration, I would be content with it. The plot just gift wraps the spirit of the franchise and I just like this idea of having a Oddball team comprised with different Rangers, the execution was so much better in this than say Toei's similar take with Cho Super Hero Taisen in 2017. Which was a terrible movie btw.

I'm sad that the last episode is coming soon, its been so much fun

Its pretty clear now that Toei tends to steer away from Older actors now for movies and team ups. The last time they even did it was with Hurricanger and Dekaranger's 10 Years After specials. I can't think of another time some of the older actors got main roles for Toku. They want to use the newer alumni because they're still fresh in the minds of the audiences which are Japanese children.

I don't think Yamato is bland but he's just not as interesting as Marvelous' character. I understand now why he was chosen to be the "main protagonist" in this show after episode 2 haha. He acts as the "glue" for the other members and his character has the most flexibility for how they want to tell a story with him.

 

If the old heroes are good enough to use for the sake of advertising or drawing more people to your movie or show, then they're good enough to actually devote more screen-time and decent stories to.

 

Agreed. The lack of having older rangers in the show is why I couldn't give a damn if I actually watch this or not. What's the fucking point of having Hirose voice Ninja White if they're not going to have Tsuruhime actually appear on screen?

 

Kagura proving she's just as awesome as the guys in episode three. And putting some budget into the Gokai Changes made them look really amazing, especially the Denjiman's super speed attack (I'm not sure what it's called as I'm waiting for berndadelta's fansub to be completed before I check it out).

 

I finally watched episode 1~3 and decided to post my thought per episode per day.

Episode 1 - Battle Begins!

The episodes starts with Gokaiger (of course) fighting against, Gaisorg, a villain ranger from upcoming Ryusoulger, which I will discuss later.
Interesting that Yellow/Luka is absent in this movie; I guess it took place after Space Squad where she was having lunch with her doppelganger... I mean Raptor 283. lol j/k

Interesting how this show focus Yamato/Eagle as main character than Marvelous. I guess this somewhat makes up for lack of Kyuranger vs. Zyuohger and most audience (children) grew up with watching Zyuohger which was 2~3 years ago (2016). It's nice that Gokaiger isn't stealing all the spotlight.
I'm curious what's his wish is going to be.

Yamato's interaction with Keiichiro/Patren-1 was pretty interesting and cute; especially, since those 2 series (Zyuohger and Lupin vs. Pato) were written by same writer (Junko Komura). It's kind of interesting that they represent goody-too-shoo Boy Scout "heroic" Red rather than over-the-top "BakaRed" types we're getting in last few years particularly in odd-year series (King/KyoryuRed, Takaharu/AkaNinger, Lucky/ShiShiRed, etc.); seriously Hasbro, I want "BakaRed" in future Power Rangers.

The member "Oddball Team" are interesting selection, though I would have prefer to have variety in color rather than having 3 Reds, 1 Orange, and 1 Pink, which I find it somewhat odd and awkward; then again, those members are oddball anyway. I guess they were only actors available on all 4 episodes.

As for other participants/teams, I like that rather than bringing ALL 225+ rangers (though some team are complete), they selected 160 (32 teams) which is kind of interesting; reminds me of Chou Super Hero Taisen (minus Kamen Rider). Not only rangers participate but supporting character (Arthur G6, Dappu, etc.) as well which is interesting.


I HATE RITA. SHE'S SO OBNOXIOUS AND ANNOYING.
I hate her face (dat teeth).
I hate her make-up.
I hate her attitude.
I hate her voice.
I hate her character.
She's probably the worst supporting/female character I have seen so far, though it's not really fair to compare 4-episodes special with 45~50 episode TV series.
It annoys me that she has same name as MMPR villain (Rita Repulsa), though I don't think Toei did that for homage rather intentionally.
I personally think the actress was miscast IMO; Nana Asakawa was bit too young for that kind of role. I honest think they should have gotten someone older (21~28) and sexier; maybe they could have gotten AV/porn actress. lol
The only thing I kind of like is her outfit and her staff... that's it.

I really like Gaisorg, which is probably the best part about the episode.
While I'm not a huge fan of Tomokazu Seki's voice, I really love the design of his suit, which is a crossover between Wolzard and Kamen Rider Knight (Ryuki).
If there's one thing that's common with EVERY dino sentai, is that they always have cool looking villain/evil ranger.
To be honest, I'm looking forward to him defeating more rangers rather than tournament itself. lol

Didn't expect Ryusoulger (Green and Black) to appear at the end. I kind of wished they save that til end of episode 4, similar to new Sentai Team appear near the end on annual VS movie. Nothing too much to say, other than Green and Black are brother and introduction to their toys... I mean weapons. Still not fan of their suit design; especially with lack of yellow which I'm not a fan of.

Overall, I give this episode a rating of 5/10. Not great but not terrible either; just mediocre. Writing is bit left to desire (then again, I'm not a huge fan of Arakawa) and actions is bit weak despite crossover special (I haven't been too impressed with Sakamoto in recent years).

 

There is also issue of not every actor being avaliable for physical appearance. For example, Ryuranger didn't appear out of suit in Akibaranger either.
SSS Battle clearly was put together in a hurry to boost people's interest in Ryusoulger and don't have a lot of budget, so we can't have another Gokaiger here unfortunately.
If you unhappy with roster we got, at least be grateful it's not Lupinranger vs Patranger vs (GokaiRed and 2-3 members of) Super Sentai, which Toei totally could have done here.

On a side note, Episode 3 wasn't as good as two before it, but it's nice to see that Kagura's actress improved a lot since her time in the show.

 

There's a difference though. Akibaranger was it's own thing while giving nods to the other Sentai shows, this is supposed to be an entire celebration of the Heisei era.

Why would I want Gokaiger 2.0? However, like I said, this is supposed to celebrate the end of the Heisei era, yet, they're doing nothing to actually celebrate that as far as rangers are concerned. Imagine if Toei said they were going to celebrate 50 years of Kamen Rider, but then only have the show feature Zi-O, Decade, Wizard, Den-O, and Ghost out of their suits, wouldn't you find that to be bullshit?

Honestly, that makes no difference to me when I don't care about the majority of the characters in this team up. I don't like ToQGer, I disdain Ninninger and Kyuuranger immensely to the point that I think they are two of the worst Sentai series ever, and I found Zyuohger uninspiring.

 

Episode 2 - Animal Battle!

Great to see Noboru Kaneko reprise his role as Kakeru Shishi/Gao Red.
Gaoranger may not be my favorite series, but it was nice to see him in his jacket and using G-Phone to henshin.
Interestingly, I met Kaneko at Japan World Heroes convention 2 years ago and when I got signature from him, and I remember mentioning how I wish him to see in Sentai again as Gao Red; never thought, it would happen this quickly.
Among the Veteran Rangers I've seen, he's probably my favorite.
3 vs. 1 “Animal Hero” Battle was interesting to watch; a good balance of each era (VulShark (Sun Vulcan; 1981), GingaGreen (Gingaman; 1998), and GaoRed (Gaoranger; 2001).
The interaction between Yamato and Kakeru was nice to look at; I kind of wished they did that in Zyuohger movie.

Nice “Yellow Loves Curry” joke Yellow Owl (Jetman); I forgot how only 2 Yellow really loved curry. lol

It was nice that Keeichi Wada and Satomi Hirose reprise their role (Ryuranger (Dairanger) and Ninja White (Kakuranger) respectively), despite voice only. Seeing Ryuranger and Ninja White, along with OhRed and Red Mask was interesting to look at.

Gaisorg is still awesome… while Rita not so much; I still hate her (...then again, she's a serial killer so yeah...).
The twist behind Gaisorg identity was… pretty shocking and twisted; probably the best part of the episode.

Another Ryusoulger Green/Black Brother Sidequest thingy at the end… not too much to say other than the fact they are here just to promote selling toys.
I kind of wished they introduced rest of the team; Blue and Pink on episode 2, Red on episode 3, and then ALL 5 together on episode 4.


Overall, it was slight improvement over the first IMO.
6/10.

 

Is it? I don't recall Toei ever saying SSS Battle had anything to do with celebrating Heisei era of Sentai.
Regardless, I think the main issue here is that thing wasn't really originally planned by Toei, so they had to bring in whoever they could and for the cheapest money. Go-On Red and GaoRed are long-life Sentai fans, so it's easier to get them on-board then someone like, say, Rio from Gekiranger.
Not to mention, Toei clearly aims to bring in current generation of Sentai viewers, who's more familiar with guys from recent series, so that ratings can go up and toys can be sold. So we get a team of recent guys + whoever they could grab from older series on a short notice for basically zero money.
I suspect that's how formula of this series works.
I'd like to have a proper crossover series, but even if we got like 20 guys from pre-Gokaiger shows, this thing is only 4-episodes long, so most of them would only have a cameo like GaoRed and people would complain anyway. There is not enough material here for a proper full-blown celebration of the franchise, because it's not one. It's another Gorider at best (actually it's a lot better than Gorider, but that's beyond the point), a way to promote their big gamble Sentai, Ryusoulger.

That's what happening with Zi-O right now pretty much. And unlike Zi-O, this series doesn't shit all over franchise at least.
And I already had similar experience with Decade 10 years ago.

So you're just not a target audience for this. It doesn't make series (or rather character selection) itself bad. These characters have their fans, who's glad to see them come back. Toei always prioritizes targer audience (aka people who watch show RIGHT NOW and care more about Stinger than Ryuuranger) over long-period fans and that series highlights it perfectly. Sure, they want to have a piece of older fanbase if they can (that's why there are always Seki-voiced suits of past heroes), but they won't go too far unless something extraodinary happens like 2011 earthquake or one-time event like Gao vs SS.
Actually now that I think about it... both Vs SS movies had a bigger focus on (at the time) recent heroes as well and 199 (possibly the entire Gokaiger as well) didn't end up same way only due to earthquake.
So, again, that's how Toei approaches anniversaries in general.

 

The worst part of it is...Hirose was actually on the set as they filmed that scene with Ninja White! Just give her a Premium Bandai Doron Changer and have her appear in the damn thing!

I don't know if I buy the whole excuse "Well, the kids won't remember/care about anyone old, so they don't get them or go after the newer heroes." Well, then why even include the older suits or characters if that's the case? You can't have it both ways, man. Besides...if that's the case, then why did episode 3 devote practically its entire run time to the fucking dog puppet?!! Ooh, kids aren't going to remember or care about a dog puppet from a 15 year old show!?

What about when they brought back Gavan, or Hiroshi Fujioka returning as Kamen Rider XXXXL? See: the older heroes are good enough for Toei to use to get attention, and they're OK to use when it suits their interest, otherwise Toei's just too cheap and lazy.

But I do admit that I think a lot of the little appearances by anybody pre-Gokai in this miniseries was not planned and last minute, and meant to be a kind of bonus. Still, it sucks to have someone who's still a physical person like Keiichi Wada relegated to voice-only appearances or someone like Kaneko showing up just to get his ass kicked by Zyuoh Boring. (I kinda hate how that scene played out; Yamato was shouting all angrily as his theme song played and he was kicking three older heroes' asses -- the scene treated those older heroes like nothing more than a monster of the week.)

Anyway, I'm hoping that this miniseries is Toei testing the waters for interest in more specials with random Sentai characters teaming up, and then maybe they can be bolder in bringing back "old" people.