After writing my Shinkenger review for JEFusion, I felt like I wanted to write on this rather silly post on eye candy. Well I did write a similar post before but I thought I might write additional thoughts on the matter. I might consider this part of my learning experience.
Good show with lots of eye candy
There's no doubt that Super Sentai and Power Rangers can create a good show with lots of eye candy to the point it gets overappreciated. For instance, the mighty hit Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (first season) or Gosei Sentai Dairanger are shows where eye candy is really abundant on both sides. For instance, Mighty Morphin' has Jason, Kimberly and later Tommy while Dairanger has Ryou and Rin. Comparison-wise, Kimberly and Rin are really that pretty but they don't make their shows good. Mighty Morphin' was pretty new at its time but I'll admit, I can still enjoy some of its writing and I can understand why some people prefer it over Zyuranger's "weird approach". But to say that Mighty Morphin' is better because Kimberly is hotter than Mei is really just dumb. Sidenote, I'm guilty of liking Kimberly over Mei for stupid reasons too.
Shinkenger happens to one of those shows that really has a load of eye candy with Takeru, Ryunosuke, Mako and Kotoha all in one show for an entire season which is twice the eye candy of Dairanger. The eye candy of this show ends up has well getting two muscular guys (usually most Super Sentai/Power Rangers series only gets one buff guy per season to do shirtless fanservice) then you add a hottie and a cutie. Mako reminds me of Kimberly than classic Sentai pinks and Kotoha is a moe like Mei in Zyuranger. After watching Zyuranger (after I saw Shinkenger), I felt like the show had both Kimberly and Mei in one show with Mako and Kotoha. Kotoha was supposedly more or less Shinkenger's version of Jetman's Ako while she's so moe it reminds me of Mei. With all that eye candy, it's very easy to like Shinkenger for very stupid reasons, saying it's the best Super Sentai season ever without seeing other shows.
Bad show with lots of eye candy
On the other hand, eye candy is no guarantee that a bad show can be saved. For instance, no amount of attractive cast members can hold attention for too long when a show gets sour and Power Rangers Megaforce unfortunately is in that category. I was at first excited of watching the show for the girls, I mean I thought it'd be more tolerable than the dancing Kyoryugers. But as Megaforce went on, I just started to complain how it fell apart. As of late, I think the real problem doesn't reside with the cast members but with the writing itself. I mean, cramming Goseiger and Gokaiger into one show worth 40 episodes crams in too much. Good thing toy sales still allowed Power Rangers to survive or I'd hate to see Toei lose its American market share.
I'll admit Megaforce has its eye candy with Troy, Gia and Emma. I find Gia and Emma attractive but they do lack that charm that Mako and Kotoha has or in extension, other show eye candies like Kimberly and Rin have that charm but they don't. I felt like Gia and Emma was just a split of Kimberly instead of giving Gia another personality they could have copied from Super Sentai or create on their own. The show had one attractive guy and two attractive women but that didn't save the show from collapsing. I mean, it's not like as if there wasn't anybody who could help out in writing and production right? I'll just admit while I do find the girls attractive but it wasn't enough to keep me from actually enjoying the show at full value. Is Megaforce the worst Power Rangers season ever? You decide.
Good show with lots of eye candy
There's no doubt that Super Sentai and Power Rangers can create a good show with lots of eye candy to the point it gets overappreciated. For instance, the mighty hit Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (first season) or Gosei Sentai Dairanger are shows where eye candy is really abundant on both sides. For instance, Mighty Morphin' has Jason, Kimberly and later Tommy while Dairanger has Ryou and Rin. Comparison-wise, Kimberly and Rin are really that pretty but they don't make their shows good. Mighty Morphin' was pretty new at its time but I'll admit, I can still enjoy some of its writing and I can understand why some people prefer it over Zyuranger's "weird approach". But to say that Mighty Morphin' is better because Kimberly is hotter than Mei is really just dumb. Sidenote, I'm guilty of liking Kimberly over Mei for stupid reasons too.
Shinkenger happens to one of those shows that really has a load of eye candy with Takeru, Ryunosuke, Mako and Kotoha all in one show for an entire season which is twice the eye candy of Dairanger. The eye candy of this show ends up has well getting two muscular guys (usually most Super Sentai/Power Rangers series only gets one buff guy per season to do shirtless fanservice) then you add a hottie and a cutie. Mako reminds me of Kimberly than classic Sentai pinks and Kotoha is a moe like Mei in Zyuranger. After watching Zyuranger (after I saw Shinkenger), I felt like the show had both Kimberly and Mei in one show with Mako and Kotoha. Kotoha was supposedly more or less Shinkenger's version of Jetman's Ako while she's so moe it reminds me of Mei. With all that eye candy, it's very easy to like Shinkenger for very stupid reasons, saying it's the best Super Sentai season ever without seeing other shows.
Bad show with lots of eye candy
On the other hand, eye candy is no guarantee that a bad show can be saved. For instance, no amount of attractive cast members can hold attention for too long when a show gets sour and Power Rangers Megaforce unfortunately is in that category. I was at first excited of watching the show for the girls, I mean I thought it'd be more tolerable than the dancing Kyoryugers. But as Megaforce went on, I just started to complain how it fell apart. As of late, I think the real problem doesn't reside with the cast members but with the writing itself. I mean, cramming Goseiger and Gokaiger into one show worth 40 episodes crams in too much. Good thing toy sales still allowed Power Rangers to survive or I'd hate to see Toei lose its American market share.
I'll admit Megaforce has its eye candy with Troy, Gia and Emma. I find Gia and Emma attractive but they do lack that charm that Mako and Kotoha has or in extension, other show eye candies like Kimberly and Rin have that charm but they don't. I felt like Gia and Emma was just a split of Kimberly instead of giving Gia another personality they could have copied from Super Sentai or create on their own. The show had one attractive guy and two attractive women but that didn't save the show from collapsing. I mean, it's not like as if there wasn't anybody who could help out in writing and production right? I'll just admit while I do find the girls attractive but it wasn't enough to keep me from actually enjoying the show at full value. Is Megaforce the worst Power Rangers season ever? You decide.
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