Saturday, November 14, 2009

Poll Results: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight & Girl Battlizers

Do you think Maya will be able to be a Kamen Rider?
Yes -- 49 out of 64 [76%]
Maybe -- 9 out of 64 [14%]
No -- 6 out of 64 [9%]
Well, she was able.

Are you looking forward to the new episodes of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight?
Yes -- 117 of 162 [72%]
No -- 24 of 162 [14%]
I've stopped watching -- 21 of 162 [12%]



Which female Power Ranger
Deserved a Battlizer?
Kimberly [MMPR]
84 of 240 votes. Seems everyone believes the first Pink Ranger deserved a Battlizer.

Jen [Time Force]
53 of 250 votes
The only team leader in the list, is the second highest voted. 58 of 240.

Summer [RPM]
38 of 250 votes
The reason I put Summer in the categories is because is the latest girl Ranger. She is third. 43 of 240.

Tori [Ninja Storm]
18 votes.

Karone [Lost Galaxy]
At first, she had almost no votes, she now ended up having 13 votes.

Katherine [Zeo]
Like Karone, she didn't get much votes at first, now 14.

Madison [Mystic Force]
Basically the reason I picked her for this selection because she is another female Ranger in blue, it would look interesting. I didn't expect her to get many votes, she got 10. Hmm, I should have had more Yellow Rangers on this.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: "Return of the Advent Master" Episode Review

This episode is a turning point, so I had to cover it. Last week's episode really was a turning point but the game has definitely changed now. Many are calling the Advent Master a deus ex machina, which is an old writing device to bring a powerful character or item that changes the game or let's the good guys win. In this episode, it is revealed that the Advent Master has been frozen for over 61 years and found on Earth. Xaviax taps Adam to become a Rider once again, Trent becomes a No-Men, and Maya becomes Kamen Rider Siren. Since the Eubulon picked the people, he can reassign the deck. He gave it to Maya and gave her new body memory fighting abilities, which is very 'deus ex machina.' So Eubulon can bring people back from the void but his deck is broken so he might have trouble bringing everyone back.

Turns out Adam is in a dimension [with an artificial world] created by Xaviax with his new love Sarah [Supposedly Adam had affections for Kase] and she believes she is still in Ventara. Xaviax has Adam [who is not completely on his side] to trick Maya into thinking he is Kit. I love when Xaviax messed up Adam's hair. Maya being able to use the deck is very much like the Japanese Kamen Rider where other people can use the decks. And Next week, we get three Ventaran Riders back, it is probably just not to have way too much characters to juggle so having a few at a time makes sense. But if they can now come back from the Advent void, most likely Xaviax will try to actually kill Eubulon to make sure he can't bring no one else back from the void. Eubulon says the Advent Void was meant to be a place for a injured warrior to take a breath and he could bring them out.


Friday, November 13, 2009

Super Sentai Girl: Ami Kawai

41 year-old Japanese theater and TV Actress, best known in Japan for her role as Marsha in Kidou Keiji Jiban and Lami in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger.

Kawai was born to a restaurant manager and actress Rie Kawai in Tokyo. She comes from a lineage of actors, including her grandmother and great-grandfather.

Before the Power Rangers popularity she was already known in Europe and Latin America for her role in Kidou Keiji Jiban, although her role there was shared with Akemi Furukawa who played a similar secondary character.

She is not in the forefront of the entertainment industry in Japan, choosing to focus her time learning and teaching Japanese traditional dance, buyo. In late 2006, she was given the name Aya Fujima.

While some people have distanced themselves from their role in the Super Sentai series, she appears to have fond memories of her role. As she appeared towards the middle of the series, she had a tough learning curve to overcome, but overcame it well.

Kawai’s official websites mentions several behind-the-scene experiences playing the role. These include confronting her fear of heights when she had to stand from the tip of a tall building when the first time she appeared on screen. Also her embarrassment of turning into a monster when her character became a giant.

She is most commonly known as Scorpina to American fans.




Thursday, November 12, 2009

Bandai America's new dragon dagger

What do you think?

I must clarify that I know that the above is the dragon dagger and there is another new one, but it is smaller than the original 1993 toy.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Power Rangers/Super Sentai Character Conversion: MMPR Season 2/Dairanger

After many requests, I decided to do this. It makes more sense to compare Rocky, Adam and Aisha with the Japanese counterparts because I didn't do it the first time. I didn't do this at first because season 2 was not at all directly adapted or related to Dairanger. But I guess it would be interesting to see if by any coincidence if they were similar.

Jason / Rocky / Ryou
Ryou was a stalwart leader but also knew how to have fun. At first, he was like a fish out of water, new to the whole chi-thing and the Gorma/Dai war. Ryou had a big heart and had a soft spot for Jin, who he ultimately fought and then forgave and kept helping. Jason was a stalwart leader as well, they were both great fighters but Ryou went through more drama---his father betrayed his teammates to go with evil, and that whole Jin drama. Rocky didn't get much characterization when he was first introduced until Zeo, where he became the joker, except for that one episode where all he wanted to do was play. I love Rocky but he was bit bland and not leader-like in season two.

Zack / Adam / Daigo
Daigo was the green one, Shishiranger, and Adam was the Black Ranger. The green lion became the black Lion zord, but he was green on the show and the toy was black. I personally believe Adam and Daigo were similar, in that they were both sensitive. Daigo fell for Kujaku, an immortal with Peacock powers out for revenge on Gorma villainess Gara and was distracted by it and would do anything for her. Adam was shy, Daigo was kind of shy, he mediated and was a strong fighter. Zack was more playful and outgoing. But Zack was a sucker for girls too.

Trini / Aisha / Kazu
While Kazu was male, because he was a hairdresser, he was believed to be gay, but there wasn't any real evidence for that and I've mentioned this before on my post about homoerotism in Sentai. Anyhoo, Aisha was bubbly and infectious and sometimes got carried away with things. Because she was African-American, she had to have 'attitude' and say stuff like "I heard that." She was the most talkative of the new trio. Trini was a woman sure of herself and knew who she was. Kazu was the same way, he was confidant and tried being optimistic. He was a poor farm boy who came to the city to survive on his own and became a posh rich-looking man.

Billy / Shouji
Shouji was a cocky everyman, a man's man, he enjoyed many sports and was a skirt chaser. Billy was incredibly intelligent and by season two, he started loosing the glasses and looking more pumped up and handsome, wearing more tanktops. Shouji wasn't so book-smart, but he was a bit street-smart when it came to last minute strategies. Billy always thought things out.

Kimberly / Lin
Lin was half Chinese and Japanese and came to Japan from China to join the Dairanger. She was the one to discover the Chi Beasts (Thunderzords) and was the heart of the team. She was forced to take in Kou into her apartment when she didn't want to. She eventually warmed up to him. Lin was like a surrogate mother to him at times and protected him. She had an eccentric uncle who married a younger woman, which she did not like at first and her uncle even seemingly killed a man--which was later proved wrong. In season two, bubbly Kimberly had to deal with the loss of her boyfriend (when he lost his powers and moved away) and then to the shock that he was the new White Ranger and then the loss of three of her old friends. Kimberly then traveled to the past and had to play the leader to four ancestors of her teammates. They were slightly different in personality.

Tommy / Kou
Okay, this is the one everyone wants to see. Everyone likes to point out that Kou was a kid, but he had to put up with a lot of drama, even tough for an adult. Kou was orphaned and lived with foster parents and then had to live with an older hot stranger for a woman. He falls for a girl that turns out to be a villain child, who then turns out to be his twin brother. He was haunted by the memory of his mother burning a tiger symbol on his arm and shocked to find out he was a twin. Tommy, was traumatized by the fact of loosing his powers and then gets the honor of being the White Ranger and the leader of his friends. While Saba didn't talk much, he had a funny accent, Byakkoshinken spoke for Kibaranger to mask his child voice from the Dairanger and his villains and gave advice to Kou--which he would sometimes ignore. They were very different, in not only in ages but in what they had to deal with. Kou had to deal with fighting his twin brother, while Tommy had to deal with being stuck in a storybook.

UPDATED 11/22/09
Kameo/Daimugen / Tor the Shuttle Zord
Tor was just a zord like Titanus introduced in season 2 and never seen again after that. We saw some footage of a tortoise touching a crystal in the viewing globe. That was actually Kameo, an ordinary man who became a real tortoise by the large gem and then into Daimugen. In actuallity, Kameo was Daimugen to begin with, but because he was immortal, and after the first Dai/Gorma war, he forgot who he was and lived as an ordinary man. He was bewildered and shocked by what was going on. There was two actors that played him, one of them being Yellow Owl in Jetman. Kameo was friends with Kazu.



UPDATED 11/12/09
Thanks to Sean Akizuki, I remember a couple other comparisons:
Serpentra / Daijinryuu
Daijinryuu was a god from space that felt disturbed by the noise made by the dairanger and Gorma [evil] and tried to make them shut up... by destroying the city. Daijinryuu is neither good nor evil, but it did hypnotize citizens and tried to make them commit suicide, luckily they were saved. Serpentra was Lord Zedd's war zord that eventually became a wedding carriage for him and Rita. It later was dug up in "Forever Red" and destroyed by a flying bike.

Mondo the Magician / Shaadam
Shaadam was the main villain in dairanger, the footage of him fighting the dairenoh in his silver face was changed into Mondo the Magician fighting the Thunder Megazord. Mondo was said to be an old friend of Rita's but he lived in a storybook. Shaadam was a clay clone of a real Gorma general that had fathered twins... one that went to work for the Gorma [Akomaru] and Kou, Kibaranger. He ended up becoming a Emperor and abusing the power of a crystal and dying.

Needlenose / General Cactus
I decided to also show the differences between some other monsters. Just some. Needlenose was created from a cactus Tommy gave Kimberly by Zedd and went with Goldar to the old west to disturb the ancestors of the Rangers. He spoke with a Mexican accent and destroyed, like every other monster. General Cactus was very different, he was a pedophile, he loved little girls and kidnapped them, paralyzed them and used them as dolls. He also acted a bit feminine, I don't know if it was old Japanese thinking [back in the 90's] that if you act feminine, you are gay. But I don't dwell too much on that, since he targeted little girls. He thankfully was destroyed.

Silver Horns / Repellator / Thunder
Thunder was the personal carriage for Akomaru, an evil little kid that later turned out to be Kibaranger's twin brother. He would ride on his back. Silver Horns was just a monster that Lord Zedd sent when Aisha, Rocky, and Adam joined the team. The suit was used again and repainted and a tongue was added for Repellator. He fought a sick Kimberly during the Masked Rider 3-parter in Season 3.

Skelerna / Jin
Skelerna was just a random monster that the Rangers fought and since the footage was limited, he didn't really touch them physically [Like many of the latter season 2 monsters]. He didn't have a Megazord battle [He was destroyed by the newly revealed Power Cannon]. Jin was an assassin that Ryou had a rivalry with. Jin made a deal with the evil--Gorma, and was later turned into a vampiric monster that attacked people at night. It truly was a dark portrayal. The two were drastically different. Jin only cared for himself, he even killed his only love in the name of evil. Jin eventually died.

Click here to see all the other comparisons I made

Poll Results: Who's Hotter in Kamen Rider Dragon Knight?

Who's Hotter in Kamen Rider Dragon Knight?
In the three polls I did on my blog Caramelitos Varonlies (now defunct as of May 2011), Matt Mullins won them all! In this last poll, between him and Mark Cameron Wystrach [Wrath] there was only 12 votes. Matt Mullins got 58% and Mark Wystrach got 42%.

August 16, 2009:
Against Stephen Lunsford, Michael Cardelle, Scott Bailey, Tony Sano an Mike Moh, Matt Mullins got 21 out of 48 votes. Stephen Lunsford [Kit Taylor] got 7 votes, Michael Cardelle [Chris Rameriez/Sting] got 6, Scott Bailey [James/Strike] got 7, Tony Sano [Albert Cho/Spear] got 1 vote an Mike Moh [Danny Cho/Axe] got 6 votes.
For more: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Who's Hotter? 2

April 18, 2009:
In the first one, Matt got 41 votes, Christopher Foley [Drew/Torque] got 22 votes, Scott Bailey got 19, Stephen Lunsford got 18, Michael Cardelle got 12, Tony Moras [Richie/Incisor] got 9 and lastly Keith Stone [Thrust] got 7.
For more: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Who is Hotter?








Related: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Cutie #2

Monday, November 9, 2009

Poll Results: Favorite Sixth Rangers


Genta Umemori (Shinken Gold)
42 of 142 votes, Genta won but I am not suspicious that the 42 were not after 100 votes, I had seen 30-something votes before it hit the 100 mark. His suit got 19 votes.

Burai (Dragon Ranger)
35 out of 142 votes, second winner, he was leading the polls early on. His suit got 56 votes.

Shurikenger
Third, 16 out of 142 votes. I voted for Shurikenger. His suit got 6 votes and his counterpart Cam got 9 votes.

Naoto Takizawa (Time Fire)
Fourth, 13 of 142 votes. Would he be happy about that? I don't think so. His counterpart Eric got 13 votes as well! His suit got 7 votes.

Hiroto Suto (Go-On Gold)
7 votes, fifth? Hiroto wouldn't care. His suit got 19 votes and his counterpart Gem got 27 votes.

Kou Koshinsei (Kiba Ranger)
6 votes, his costume got 16 votes.

Tekkan Aira 'Tetsu' (DekaBreak)
6 votes, more than his suit got (2).

Tsukumaro Oogami "Shirogane" (Gao Silver)
5 votes, his suit and his counterpart Merrick got the same amount of votes!

Riki (King Ranger)
3 votes, his suit got 8 votes.

Yuusaku Hayakawa (MegaSilver)
3 votes, less than his suit got (9).

Eiji Takaoka (Bouken Silver)
3 votes, his suit got 6 votes.

Fire Warrior Hyuga (Bull Black)
2 votes

Sungel 'Hikaru' (Magi Shine)
1 vote, less than his suit got (3).





Tommy Oliver (Green and White Ranger)
66 out of 162 votes, winner. There was more votes for this one than for Super Sentai, no surprise there. The Green Ranger suit got 56 votes and the White Ranger suit got 16 votes.


Gem (Ranger Gold)
27 out of 162 votes, second most popular. His counterpart Hiroto got fifth and his suit got 7 votes.

Eric Myers (Quantum Ranger)
Third, 13 votes. His counterpart Naoto got fourth but 13 votes as well! His suit got 7 votes and his title as Quantum Ranger got 6 votes as least favorite name.

Jason (Gold Ranger)
10 votes, his counterpart Riki got 3. His suit got 8 votes.

Zhane (Silver Ranger)
10 votes. His counterpart Yuusaku got 3. His costume got 9 votes.

Cam Watanabe (Green Samurai Ranger)
9 votes surprisingly (I'm not a fan). His counterpart Shurikenger got 16 votes. His suit got 6 votes and so did his title as least favorite hero name.

Ryan Mitchell (Titanium Ranger)
6 votes, his suit got 4 votes.

Phantom Ranger
5 votes

Merrick (Lunar Wolf Ranger)
5 votes, his counterpart Shirogane got 5 votes too! His suit got 5 votes and he got 3 votes for least favorite hero name.

Tyzonn (Mercury Ranger)
5 votes, his counterpart Eiji got 3 votes. His suit got 6 votes and his Mercury Ranger title got 12 votes for least favorite hero name.

Daggeron (Solaris Knight)
3 votes, his counterpart Sungel got 1 vote. His suit got 3 votes. His title Solaris Knight got 10 votes as least favorite hero name.

Sam (Omega Ranger)
2 votes, his counterpart Tetsu got 6 votes. His suit got the same amount of votes (2) and his title Omega Ranger got 3 votes as the least favorite hero name.

Mike Corbett (Magna Defender)
Mike got 1 vote, his counterpart Hyuuga got 2 votes.