Current music: �¬Ž} - ƒLƒ‰ƒŠ�šƒZ�[ƒ‰�[ƒhƒŠ�[ƒ€�I

I'm not really one for being proved wrong, you know - it doesn't really sit comfortably with my world vision and all however I have a terrible fear that I'm going to have to come down from my high horse for this one. *shudder* So yeah, anyway...our copy of Abaranger vs. Hurricanger arrived in the mail today and I'm going to talk spoilers, confess terrible things and in general reveal plot points so if you haven't seen this yet then DON'T READ ANY FURTHER, for everyone else however...

Okay, let's get the difficult bit out of the way first - I actually really liked this film and, well...the cast of Abaranger weren't as stomach-churningly irritating as usual. *sigh* In fact the Abaranger aspects worked a lot better than I expected them too. Whilst AbareYellow is still a drooling idiot and AbareBlue is still a smug bastard, AbareRed and especially AbareBlack came across as being very cool - and possibly even interesting - characters. The dynamic worked well, particular the way Yousuke filled the role as the extra-senshi (with a flair second only to early GaoSilver episodes in Gaoranger) during the opening act was particularly impressive. The conflict between Yousuke's determination and AbareRed's insistence that they be involved works really well with Yousuke showing that he's fully accepted the responsibility of everything that took place during Hurricanger. The villain specific to this story, summoned by Furabijou and Wendinu is also of interest as he was definitely a character in his own right and had a history unique to the film but also paying homage to both series (his voice is also disturbingly similar to Tau Zanto).

The appearance of the remaining Hurricanger cast is handled well with a suitable amount of attention and time spent on this. Kouta and Ikkou both sport new hairstyles whilst there's a certain inference that the whole Nanami/Isshu relationship inferred in earlier episodes is in full blossom. There's also at least two specific 'in jokes', for lack of a better word, about Nao Nagasawa's Spanish connection - something I would never have picked up on if it wasn't for the wisdom of the mighty cheesemon who fortuitously uploaded some clips last week (thank you, btw, I haven't quite worked up the courage to add you to my friends list but you really made my day with those clips...not that I'm a colossal fanboy or anything...:)).

Despite fretting for months about the one group of pictures I saw for this film prior to watching it I'm really pleased to say that I thought Shurikenger's 'return' was tactfully dealt with. It was almost as if, despite the fact that he was dead, he was still watching over. Seeing him standing there on that cliff and giving his little speech before turning away was perhaps one of my favourite moments in the entire film and almost threatened to bring a tear to my eye.

It was very much apparent that the Hurricangers and Goraijers had matured since the destruction of Jakanja. It was kind of weird adjusting to them being the super sentai senior class and yet at the same time it was a very natural transition - Asuka in particular seemed to fit in better with the older, more mature Goraijers than alongside the Abaranger cast. A strong case could be made for AbareBlack being the extra-sentai in any future Hurricanger stories but personally I adored the Asuka/Kasumi brothers dynamic (now there's a real wet dream for sentaislash members!). I could quite happily watch a new series based around Ikkou, Isshu and Asuka as a team.

As for the aspects of Abaranger that had evolved since I abandoned the show at episode 16 - well, I have to confess that both Killero 'Abare Mode' and MaxOhJa (I think this is the machine that Asuka pilots at the beginning of the film) are seriously cool looking mech whilst AbareRed's powered-up mode was kind of lame and no real excuse for not having a standard fifth-senshi - if anything it reminded me of the 'battleizer' (sp?) tradition of Red Rangers in Power Rangers. I'm also a bit of a sucker for mech combinations so I have to admit that seeing AbaRenOh use Karakuri Ball 01/Sword Slasher and perform the Triple Blade was a great moment for me. I would have liked to see a further mech fight but I think that's really just me being greedy.

This film really carried with it a sense of conclusion and there was a lot of focus on the Hurricanger cast - making it possibly more one sided than other sentai vs. film I've ever seen. This could be a bone of contention for Abaranger fans but I know that it certainly made my day. I really thought that if this was terrible I'd be able to dismiss it as just a silly add-on but it works really well and has given me a new respect for AbareBlack and AbareRed...something that really knocked me for six. Of course the bloody awful We Are The ONE ~Boku-Ra Wa Hitotsu~ end theme from Abaranger was a sad conclusion to events but I'll forgive them it...just for the site of Ikkou and Isshu dancing like idiots. :)

As for Furabijou and Wendinu...I think it was Graham Greene who said you should never kill off characters you like in books as you're bound to have to create new characters with too many similarities in the sequel holds true. The biggest fanservice, kids, is in not killing the cute villains. That's all I have to say on the matter.

Now I'm just going to sit back and wait for sushigrade to start screen-capping so we can all have new icons. :)

Current music: Kenta Satou - Zigzag Youth Road

Pop quiz time. Insert relevant cultural information here.

So, anyway, after trying to fathom the merits of AbareBlack (and failing!) I decided it was time to sit down and re-watch the opening episodes of Abaranger and try to be a bit, erm, nicer about the events depicted therein so I decided to make a few notes which I'm going to post behind a friendly cut in order to prevent people from making washed up on the shores of the mighty beach of many spoilers. Much to my surprise the 'pros' are quite weighty. I'm sorry if the 'cons' seem a little unjust but, well, opinion, blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, without further delay...

PROS:

• Dino-Earth/opening sequence/AbareBlack's last ditch rescue attempt and dimension hop.
  
• DinoMech rampage!
  
• Ryunosuke and Emiri's abortive transformation.
  
• Ptero and Triceratops' restoration and rescue.
  
• Evorian armour/Dino-Earth history.
  
• Tyranno's restoration/AbareRed emerges (with Super Smash Bros.-esque music!).
  
• Super power ascension/fins concept.
  
• AbareRed and AbareBlue's convincing GaoRed and GaoYellow impression.
  
• Brachio appears!
  
• Gairuton and Jannu/more history.
  
• AbareBlack fights even without his costume.
  
• Rije - evil children are always cool!
  
• The concept of AbareRed as a 'father'/uncle is a good one.
  
• The three element villains and their translation to Earth.
  
• Tyranno's child being killed by the Evorian.
  
• Mint Crow Sniper!
  
• Coal Orugu returns!

CONS:

• AbareYellow's introduction.
  
• Emiri. Full stop.
  
• AbareBlue's introduction/AbareBlue's face. Ugh.
  
• Abaranger fighting style - *very* clumsy.
  
• Special weapons look about as useful as most of the items in the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.
  
• Super power ascension/fins transformation sequence is awful.
  
• Dino-curry really does look like shit.
  
• Bakuryu change sequence looks awful.
  
• The three personalities don't mesh at all and as such the fights seem very fragmented.
  
• Abren-O's control room is very bland.
  
• Gariuton dies too early!
  
• Mikara and Voffa look a bit shit. Not really sinister general material.
  
• Mai - gormless children are always bad!
  
• Including the fat kid in episode #2 and the rat-looking kid in episode #4, Abaranger really does have a monopoly on ugly kids.
  
• The matching tweed looking jackets with the stitches. Gah. AbareBlack's armour was the coolest thing about him.

And that's that. A little harsh in places, perhaps but I must confess that while the episodes certainly aren't anywhere near the quality I had hoped for they're not exactly as bad as I'd originally thought them to be. That's progress right?

Right?

You can all shout at me now. :)