Monday, April 29, 2013

Choujuu Sentai Liveman Series Review Part 3

Production: Toei Co. Ltd.
Ratings Average: 10.5%
Episode Length: 20 minutes
Opening Theme: "Choujuu Sentai Liveman" (Super Beast Task Force Liveman) Performed by Daisuke Shima
Ending Theme: "Ashita ni Ikiru ze!" (Live for Tomorrow!) Performed by Daisuke Shima
AKA: Bioman III (French title), Liveman (International Sales title)
Succeeded By: Kousoku Sentai Turboranger

I suppose it's a bit late now for those who have read my first two parts without the warning, but heavy spoilers after the jump:
After the dramatic unveiling of Green Sai and Black Bison, the series begins to reach its endgame. Both Kemp and Mazenda get power-ups that make them far more menacing than before, still making them equal matches for the five members. However, Professor Bias's plans begin to slowly unfurl when Goh suddenly returns with his memories intact. He warns the Livemen that Bias has been using brains of highly advanced past students to make himself eternally young and grant him immeasurable powers. It is later discovered that Butchy, Guildos, and Ashura were all just pawns created by Bias to foster the growth of Mazenda and Kemp into becoming the 10th brain needed in order to give Bias eternal youth.

When Guildos and Butchy discover they are robots and Ashura has his intelligence taken away once again, it comes down to Mazenda and Kemp. Although Mazenda expresses doubts of giving up her brain, Kemp embraces it. With Bias's plots growing grander, the Livemen have to get ready for the final battle with Volt; especially when the freedom of the entire world is on the line!

After the two new Livemen are introduced, the show takes it steady for a few episodes so that we can get acquainted with the new heroes. As previously mentioned in part 2, these episodes are pretty uninteresting and just end up serving as nothing more than filler. However, once we approach the final run of episodes, we are treated to some excellent stories. When the final arc finally arrives, the series goes all-out in delivering a strong three-part finale. The stakes reach their peak in the penultimate episode, with one of the best and most suspenseful climaxes I've ever seen in a Super Sentai. The last episode is emotionally satisfying; albeit a bit abruptly ended, as we get some key scenes including showdowns between Yusuke and Bias, as well as a surprising showdown between Megumi and Bias. The final scene is pretty powerful, but the show unfortunately doesn't treat us to an epilogue.

This final arc might not be the very best I've seen from a Super Sentai (that honor belongs to either Bioman or Magiranger), but it does live up to the build-up this series has had. Besides, fans do eventually get an epilogue twice: once with Red Falcon's return in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger Vs. Super Sentai, and then Yellow Lion's guest-starring appearance for an episode of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. These two tidbits of info written years later help us get an idea of what happened to these heroes.

Of course, there are several factors that make a Sentai finale work. One of them is the suit acting, which is one of the most important factors of any tokusatsu series. Here, Red Falcon is played by tokusatsu legend Kazuo Niibori and once again he pulls off a very athletic performance. He's a master of being able to pull off his moves with limited visibility, as well as pouring emotion into his often underappreciated acting. The other Liveman suit actors here also all deliver good jobs, but in all honesty; the best suit acting goes to the villains. Gash, Butchy, Guildos, and Beast Man Oblar all need to have solid suit actors, and they all do great jobs evoking what emotions (or lack thereof in Gash's case) are required. The operators also make sure mouths and eyes work when they need to, so it makes their performances more life-like.

Now, a finale is important and all, but what episodes of Choujuu Sentai Liveman stood out more than the rest? Well, a very integral episode early on that displayed Gash's power is episode 15: Deadly! Gash the Grim Reaper. In this episode, a robot powered by an ultra-rare crystal is pursued by Volt since this crystal can be used to power an extremely powerful laser. Joh ends up befriending this cute robot, but Volt has already sent Gash to retrieve it at any cost! This exciting episode directed by Shouhei Toujou and written by Toshiki Inoue displays Gash's unstoppable might in what feels like an episode inspired by The Terminator, and possibly an influence on some of Keita Amemiya's works. The episode ends in very typical Liveman fashion (someone dives in front of a hero to take a shot), but it makes for an intense 20 minutes nevertheless.

The three-part GigaVolt arc which introduces Green Sai and Black Bison is among the best of any Super Sentai. Spanning episodes 28-30, this non-stop roller-coaster ride features the best mecha fights of the entire series (Live Robo is actually challenged!) and one of the coolest introductions for new heroes in a Sentai. This arc also shows how much business Bias means, so it makes for a thrilling arc.

Other favorite episodes include: Episode 1 (Friends! Why did you do this?!) for the brilliant setup of the show, episode 22 (Enter the Space Karaoke Master) for its fun tone and oodles of Megumi gorgeousness, episode 35 (Yusuke and Kemp's Promise!!) for its excellent job building the main rivalry in the show, and episode 48 (Birth!! Boy King Bias!) for just the amazing climactic atmosphere.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
So here we are at the end of this review. Before we end this review, I would like to thank all of the sources I used in this review to get the info I needed. These include Valsag Fantasy and Toku Warriors for providing all the info I could ever hope for on Super Sentai writers; the uploaders of information to Wikipedia and the Power Rangers wikia page for various cast and staff information (I understand these aren't 100% credible sources, but I found little information that contradicted, and when info did contradict I used the more logical choice), and finally http://www10.atwiki.jp/shichouseiko/pages/15.html for ratings information.

In the end, Choujuu Sentai Liveman completely lived up to the hype fans had given it. Its strong character arcs are better written than most tokusatsu even today, proving just how talented Hirohisa Soda was. The actors lift their roles high enough to make them legendary performances in tokusatsu, the special effects and music add charm instead of making the series dated, and the show treats its audience seriously by keeping low-brow or overly wacky humor down to a minimum and instead focuses on drama and more subtle humor.

Liveman is considered Hirohisa Soda's last great Super Sentai; after this he delivered the universally-disliked Turboranger and Fiveman, which would lead to Toei re-arranging the staff behind Super Sentai for the next several years. Thankfully, he managed to squeeze all of his best ideas out in this series. I have only finished two Super Sentai from the 1980s, and I find it very hard to believe any other installments from the decade can top this one. It's not my favorite Sentai, but it certainly earned a top 5 spot out of the 11 Super Sentai I have finished. It holds up to this very day, and I suggest anyone who has read this review (and didn't mind spoilers) to check it out. It is considered one of the definitive Super Sentai for a reason.

Highly Recommended

Next series review: Spider-Man

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