It's that time of the year once again.
One team of spandex clad superheroes have gone into retirement and a fresh faced crew has taken
their place. Yes folks it's time for a new Super Sentai series. I
tried to keep up with last years installment but that miserable cunt
known as 2014 sidetracked the endeavor. Of course a new year brings
another chance at doing things right. Now let's get one with the show
and talk about the first episode of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger.
You may recall that last years entry,
ToQger ran on the concepts of Trains and imagination, this year we're
working with ninjas and a “so what” attitude. The first shines
through pretty well so far though the show has yet to sell a carefree
viewpoint just yet. That may simply be a byproduct of this first part
being almost entirely action. We don't even get the usual opening
segment since we're treated to the team leader, Takaharu facing off
with some grunts who destroyed the family dojo. Guy fits the pretty
standard role of a sentai leader. He's upbeat and energetic and has
an enthusiasm for heroics that is refreshing. No mopey cry baby
heroes here. Reluctance in a sentai setting usually stems from
self-doubt rather some tortured psyche.
After the opening melee we get to meet
the other team members. There's Yakumo, a emotionally vacant
magician. Nagi is supposed to be some trouble making man-child though
he failed to cause much in the way of mischief. Kasumi.....I guess
she's supposed to be interested in technology. So far she has about
as much personality as my soundbar. Finally there's Fuka, whose
primary skill is being adorable.
This collection of relatives are
supposed to live up to their grandfathers legacy and defeat a Sengoku
Era general who swore to return as a Yokai (that's a demon). Lo and
behold, said general indeed returns and uses the 48 shurikens that
sealed his grave as a means of turning everyday objects into
monsters. Today we get a chainsaw guy. Can't say much else about the
main baddies as they stayed mostly hidden for this round. Guess that
means I won't have to complain about them having the same
conversation every week like last year.
With everything in place we move on to
a big swath of action. Most of it was decent though not as crazy and
over the top as ToQger. Also there were a few instances of things
like really visible wires that aren't usually a problem for these
shows. One saving grace came with the giant robots. Takaharu has a
robot that's actually fast! It's a revelation to watch a giant
monster fight that isn't dreadfully slow. It even does some weird
ninja stuff like hiding inside buildings and using the pavement as a
shield before disappearing. Major points to the show for that.
After the tussle, our group settles in
and finds out that their grandfather is still alive despite being
monstrously old. He's also a sassy old bastard. I forgot to mention
Takaharu and Fuka's dad who brings the team together. Very little
details on him but he seems like a decent ditzy guy.
If it sounds like I'm a little
disinterested in the whole affair it's cause it was a pretty generic
beginning for a tokusatsu series. I was stoked going in being a fan
of the franchise and lover of ninjas but we barely got to know the
characters, never even met the big bad. There's no overarching
mystery or story element other than knowing at least 48 monsters have
to be brought down before the general can be sealed up again.
All is not lost though. In fact, I'm
feeling rather optimistic. As energized and pumped up as I was by the
awesome first episode of ToQger, things quickly settled down and got
a little predictable. By starting off in the predictable area,
Ninninger has a huge opportunity to build itself up rather than fall
apart. It has some nice flash to it and it has cute ninja girls which
when I was a kid was the only item on my wish list for future
girlfriends. So I'm gonna stick with this thing and see where it
takes us. Maybe it'll surprise us.
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