Feelings on Samurai

Acezero · 01/11/15, 04:29 PM

Well, for a while now, probably since the middle of last year, my hate for Samurai has gone down sufficiently. When I first saw the show after getting back into PR after several year, I really disliked what was going on. The amount of talking, the whole thing about white people being the lead for what could have been the first Japanese or Asian actor, the dialogue in general and other problems.

The only positive thing I could say about it was that it introduced me to Sentai. But now after doing a small marathon of the second part, I think I do not hate show as badly as before, like I thought. The Rangers were kinda bland, but they were worth getting invested at least a little bit. I think Ji would have been more interesting if he had more of backstory or a focus episode. The Villians were probably the best part of the show, though I wished I knew more about the backstory of what Dayu and Deker were before the fire, and Bulk and Skull were weakest I felt but at least they acted the part well.

Jumbalia23 · 01/11/15, 04:31 PM

In my opinion, there's no problem with sticking close to the sentai, but the problem with Samurai comes in when they try to do different things but don't go all the way with it. For example, the (Super) Mega/Shogun Mode suits were original (and gorgeous), but they were ultimately useless with the exception of Shogun Mode Red in the final battle. Also, plot threads would sometimes appear out of nowhere or dissapear after 1 or 2 episodes. Also, the dialogue was really clunky (probably because most of it was translated directly from Shinkenger). While I will admit that Super Samurai improved on almost of of these complaints, the final 5 episodes are where it really comes crashing down. Although I said there's nothing wrong with sticking close to the source material, by the end of the series, each season should have shaped some sort of identity, and the only identity that (Super) Samurai had was "American Shinkenger".

That's it, I said my piece, I'm done.

P.S. Dayu/Deker was probably the best part of Samurai and one of the only things they did better than Shinkenger

sky_queen3 · 01/11/15, 04:33 PM

I'm under the impression the starting on episode 3 thing was Nick thing so I can't fully fault them for that.

I enjoyed it as it was the first I followed along with in real time, but I'm a silly bugger who couldn't really tell what was so bad until it was explained so I get where people come from but I still have the soft spot for it.

Digificwriter · 01/11/15, 04:35 PM

Starting on episode 3 wasn't just a Nickelodeon decision. I don't know why, but Saban themselves chose to promote The Team Unites as the premiere.

As far as my feelings on Samurai are concerned, I've always supported the season and firmly believe that it's far better than general opinion says it is. I love the characters, the story, the suit designs, and the Morph sequence, and count being able to attend a Q&A session with the male Ranger cast members at the inaugural Salt Lake Comic Con one of the highlight experiences of my life so far (I unfortunately wasn't able to find the booth on the Con floor where they were hanging out, or I would've gotten to meet them face-to-face).

The only thing I don't like about the season is the way they unnecessarily devolved Bulk's character.

Titanium321 · 01/11/15, 04:36 PM

Because they knew Nick wasn't starting on episode one at that point and had no control over it so they had to make the best they could with it.

AkibaGold90 · 01/11/15, 04:37 PM

Samurai is in my top 5 to be honest.

To me, it taking itself so seriously while talking down to it's audience, using lame puns, shoehorning in MMPR nostalgic elements, while sticking relatively close to the source material made it a riot. It's like a bad dub with Americanized elements and, because it takes itself seriously, I find it unintentionally hilarious. I get more enjoyment out of it than I should

Jumbalia23 · 01/11/15, 04:48 PM

What I don't understand is, as far as I know, there were alternate names for the 'Origins' episodes, presumably from before they were shoved to the end and labeled as 'origins' even though they had nothing to do with each other aside from being the 2 that were skipped, but there wasn't an alternate title for "The Team Unites". So if they started with "Call Of The Red Ranger" (Origins Part 1), then the 3rd episode would still have the same title which makes no sense aside from the fact that it was the first one aired.

Gaurdian Legend2 · 01/11/15, 04:59 PM

When it first aired, I definitely was not a fan of it. I had just come off re-watching the entire series and Shinkenger, and to me, it just felt...bad. However, as time went on, I feel Super Samurai was a tad bit better, and after seeing just how poor some Neo Saban seasons can be, such as (Super) Megaforce, I began to appreciate it. Compared to the last two seasons, Samurai was at least coherent in my opinion. Now I'm not saying it's a great season by any means, but it's not as bad as it originally got slammed for. All in all, if Dino Charge can at least be as "good" as Samurai, then I'm content. I just hope it doesn't end up like (Super) Megaforce, because boy do I really dislike those seasons.

Internut · 01/11/15, 05:03 PM

My expectations were really high at first because RPM was so awesome, plus I really enjoyed Shinkenger so I was hoping for something special. But the constant chatter and horrible dialogue and poorly translated plot points really wore into me very quickly.

Samurai felt like a team of Dax's. I didn't like a single one of the Rangers, plus the splitting the 40 episode series over 2 years made no sense at the time. Especially when we had already seen cast photos including the female red Ranger.

Add in how pointless Bulk was to the overall show, instead of developing his character further from his growth through Lost Galaxy.

These days I just rank Samurai as forgettable, though worse than Overdrive in different ways. Megaforce was far worse in every category. Sorry, not really explaining myself all that well, it's been so long since I've seen Samurai and I don't want to go anywhere near it any time soon.

01/11/15, 04:29 PM	#1
Acezero Putty Patroller Join Date: 01/11/15 Posts: 1	Feelings on Samurai Well, for a while now, probably since the middle of last year, my hate for Samurai has gone down sufficiently. When I first saw the show after getting back into PR after several year, I really disliked what was going on. The amount of talking, the whole thing about white people being the lead for what could have been the first Japanese or Asian actor, the dialogue in general and other problems. The only positive thing I could say about it was that it introduced me to Sentai. But now after doing a small marathon of the second part, I think I do not hate show as badly as before, like I thought. The Rangers were kinda bland, but they were worth getting invested at least a little bit. I think Ji would have been more interesting if he had more of backstory or a focus episode. The Villians were probably the best part of the show, though I wished I knew more about the backstory of what Dayu and Deker were before the fire, and Bulk and Skull were weakest I felt but at least they acted the part well.

01/11/15, 04:31 PM	#2
Jumbalia23 Putty Patroller Join Date: 01/11/15 Posts: 3	Re: Feelings on Samurai In my opinion, there's no problem with sticking close to the sentai, but the problem with Samurai comes in when they try to do different things but don't go all the way with it. For example, the (Super) Mega/Shogun Mode suits were original (and gorgeous), but they were ultimately useless with the exception of Shogun Mode Red in the final battle. Also, plot threads would sometimes appear out of nowhere or dissapear after 1 or 2 episodes. Also, the dialogue was really clunky (probably because most of it was translated directly from Shinkenger). While I will admit that Super Samurai improved on almost of of these complaints, the final 5 episodes are where it really comes crashing down. Although I said there's nothing wrong with sticking close to the source material, by the end of the series, each season should have shaped some sort of identity, and the only identity that (Super) Samurai had was "American Shinkenger". That's it, I said my piece, I'm done. P.S. Dayu/Deker was probably the best part of Samurai and one of the only things they did better than Shinkenger

01/11/15, 04:33 PM	#3
sky_queen3 Putty Patroller Join Date: 05/01/11 Posts: 2	Re: Feelings on Samurai I'm under the impression the starting on episode 3 thing was Nick thing so I can't fully fault them for that. I enjoyed it as it was the first I followed along with in real time, but I'm a silly bugger who couldn't really tell what was so bad until it was explained so I get where people come from but I still have the soft spot for it.

01/11/15, 04:35 PM	#4
Digificwriter Putty Patroller Join Date: 04/30/11 Posts: 9	Re: Feelings on Samurai Starting on episode 3 wasn't just a Nickelodeon decision. I don't know why, but Saban themselves chose to promote The Team Unites as the premiere. As far as my feelings on Samurai are concerned, I've always supported the season and firmly believe that it's far better than general opinion says it is. I love the characters, the story, the suit designs, and the Morph sequence, and count being able to attend a Q&A session with the male Ranger cast members at the inaugural Salt Lake Comic Con one of the highlight experiences of my life so far (I unfortunately wasn't able to find the booth on the Con floor where they were hanging out, or I would've gotten to meet them face-to-face). The only thing I don't like about the season is the way they unnecessarily devolved Bulk's character.

01/11/15, 04:36 PM	#5
Titanium321 Ranger In Training Join Date: 05/02/11 Location: UK Posts: 65	Re: Feelings on Samurai Because they knew Nick wasn't starting on episode one at that point and had no control over it so they had to make the best they could with it.

01/11/15, 04:37 PM	#6
AkibaGold90 Putty Patroller Join Date: 06/27/11 Posts: 8	Re: Feelings on Samurai Samurai is in my top 5 to be honest. To me, it taking itself so seriously while talking down to it's audience, using lame puns, shoehorning in MMPR nostalgic elements, while sticking relatively close to the source material made it a riot. It's like a bad dub with Americanized elements and, because it takes itself seriously, I find it unintentionally hilarious. I get more enjoyment out of it than I should

01/11/15, 04:48 PM	#7
Jumbalia23 Putty Patroller Join Date: 01/11/15 Posts: 3	Re: Feelings on Samurai What I don't understand is, as far as I know, there were alternate names for the 'Origins' episodes, presumably from before they were shoved to the end and labeled as 'origins' even though they had nothing to do with each other aside from being the 2 that were skipped, but there wasn't an alternate title for "The Team Unites". So if they started with "Call Of The Red Ranger" (Origins Part 1), then the 3rd episode would still have the same title which makes no sense aside from the fact that it was the first one aired.

01/11/15, 04:59 PM	#8
Gaurdian Legend2 Putty Patroller Join Date: 01/11/15 Posts: 1	Re: Feelings on Samurai When it first aired, I definitely was not a fan of it. I had just come off re-watching the entire series and Shinkenger, and to me, it just felt...bad. However, as time went on, I feel Super Samurai was a tad bit better, and after seeing just how poor some Neo Saban seasons can be, such as (Super) Megaforce, I began to appreciate it. Compared to the last two seasons, Samurai was at least coherent in my opinion. Now I'm not saying it's a great season by any means, but it's not as bad as it originally got slammed for. All in all, if Dino Charge can at least be as "good" as Samurai, then I'm content. I just hope it doesn't end up like (Super) Megaforce, because boy do I really dislike those seasons.

01/11/15, 05:03 PM	#9
Internut Putty Patroller Join Date: 01/07/15 Posts: 7	Re: Feelings on Samurai My expectations were really high at first because RPM was so awesome, plus I really enjoyed Shinkenger so I was hoping for something special. But the constant chatter and horrible dialogue and poorly translated plot points really wore into me very quickly. Samurai felt like a team of Dax's. I didn't like a single one of the Rangers, plus the splitting the 40 episode series over 2 years made no sense at the time. Especially when we had already seen cast photos including the female red Ranger. Add in how pointless Bulk was to the overall show, instead of developing his character further from his growth through Lost Galaxy. These days I just rank Samurai as forgettable, though worse than Overdrive in different ways. Megaforce was far worse in every category. Sorry, not really explaining myself all that well, it's been so long since I've seen Samurai and I don't want to go anywhere near it any time soon.