Weekly summary: Apr. 9 - Apr. 15, 2023
Apr. 16th, 2023 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alchemicinkI don't have much of anything to share this week! Lots of real life things distracted me from focusing on too much else.
Nevertheless, here are a few rambles from the past week:
I spent one evening with my brother and we ended up watching "Run for the Money" on Netflix. It's a Japanese game show where the contestants (all kinda d-list celebrities... and Minho from Shinee for some reason) are stuck in a theme park for 3+ hours and have to outlast the "hunters" chasing them. There are, of course, plenty of challenges added along the way to keep things interesting.
We quite enjoyed how absurd it was! And it was only four episodes long, so it was easy to watch.
What I mainly enjoyed about the show, however, was that it reminded me of the old onigokko game that the Johnnys Juniors used to play on one of their TV shows. They'd also spend a set amount of time somewhere (an amusement park, an empty office building, etc) and try to outlast the "oni" chasing them. Perhaps I found the Johnnys version more entertaining because I was more familiar with all the contestants, and they're all mostly cute little teenagers. Like, Yuto (from HSJ) hadn't even hit his growth spurt yet 😂
Anyway, onigokko was really funny to watch for moments like how Taiyou somehow always got caught first and Kusano running so fast that he lost his cameraman. They don't make fun shows like that anymore!
So "Run for the Money" was similar enough to spark some nostalgia in me. I'd recommend it if you enjoy the silliness of Japanese game shows.
Moving on, I read a few fics this week, but found only one I really felt was rec-worthy. This genfic featuring Zuko and Teo was interesting to me. I always enjoy when characters who rarely interact in canon get a chance to talk in fanfic instead. Please note that the focus of this little fic is about disabilities
Lastly, I'm more than halfway through Denji Sentai Megaranger now! The show is so silly but also has a lot of sweet moments. I'm very entertained! It's also just been really cool to see footage I recognize from Power Rangers in Space in its original form. Sometimes it's the same thing happening in both series, and sometimes the context is completely different. It's so strange to think about.
Comparing the two series, I've come to the conclusion that the Megaranger characters have more personality than the PRiS characters do. Each episode is about the same amount of time, but I feel like Megaranger just does a better job at utilizing that amount of time to really flesh out each of the rangers into distinct people. PRiS spends too much airtime on the ongoing search for Zordon or the pointless scenes with Bulk and Skull. It never gives itself time to develop any characters other than Andros (and arguably, Carlos, a little)
I just find myself wishing that PRiS had been able to adapt a few more plotlines from Megaranger. The one where Miku (pink) gets a boost to Super Miku might have been fun to see with Cassie instead. The one where the team thinks they only have 24 hours left to live was a really compelling episode too. The one where Kenta (red) accidentally injures a kid dealt with some important questions. The one where the monster started turning people to coral could have been funny to watch with the PRiS characters too. So many opportunities that the American series didn't have the time or budget for... *sigh*
(On the other hand, not the episode where Shibolena pretends to be a nun and then lures children so she can transform them into roses... it's probably for the best that one got skipped)
Anyway, that's all I've got this time. I'm hoping this coming week will be a good one. Wishing the same to the rest of you as well!
Nevertheless, here are a few rambles from the past week:
I spent one evening with my brother and we ended up watching "Run for the Money" on Netflix. It's a Japanese game show where the contestants (all kinda d-list celebrities... and Minho from Shinee for some reason) are stuck in a theme park for 3+ hours and have to outlast the "hunters" chasing them. There are, of course, plenty of challenges added along the way to keep things interesting.
We quite enjoyed how absurd it was! And it was only four episodes long, so it was easy to watch.
What I mainly enjoyed about the show, however, was that it reminded me of the old onigokko game that the Johnnys Juniors used to play on one of their TV shows. They'd also spend a set amount of time somewhere (an amusement park, an empty office building, etc) and try to outlast the "oni" chasing them. Perhaps I found the Johnnys version more entertaining because I was more familiar with all the contestants, and they're all mostly cute little teenagers. Like, Yuto (from HSJ) hadn't even hit his growth spurt yet 😂
Anyway, onigokko was really funny to watch for moments like how Taiyou somehow always got caught first and Kusano running so fast that he lost his cameraman. They don't make fun shows like that anymore!
So "Run for the Money" was similar enough to spark some nostalgia in me. I'd recommend it if you enjoy the silliness of Japanese game shows.
Moving on, I read a few fics this week, but found only one I really felt was rec-worthy. This genfic featuring Zuko and Teo was interesting to me. I always enjoy when characters who rarely interact in canon get a chance to talk in fanfic instead. Please note that the focus of this little fic is about disabilities
Lastly, I'm more than halfway through Denji Sentai Megaranger now! The show is so silly but also has a lot of sweet moments. I'm very entertained! It's also just been really cool to see footage I recognize from Power Rangers in Space in its original form. Sometimes it's the same thing happening in both series, and sometimes the context is completely different. It's so strange to think about.
Comparing the two series, I've come to the conclusion that the Megaranger characters have more personality than the PRiS characters do. Each episode is about the same amount of time, but I feel like Megaranger just does a better job at utilizing that amount of time to really flesh out each of the rangers into distinct people. PRiS spends too much airtime on the ongoing search for Zordon or the pointless scenes with Bulk and Skull. It never gives itself time to develop any characters other than Andros (and arguably, Carlos, a little)
I just find myself wishing that PRiS had been able to adapt a few more plotlines from Megaranger. The one where Miku (pink) gets a boost to Super Miku might have been fun to see with Cassie instead. The one where the team thinks they only have 24 hours left to live was a really compelling episode too. The one where Kenta (red) accidentally injures a kid dealt with some important questions. The one where the monster started turning people to coral could have been funny to watch with the PRiS characters too. So many opportunities that the American series didn't have the time or budget for... *sigh*
(On the other hand, not the episode where Shibolena pretends to be a nun and then lures children so she can transform them into roses... it's probably for the best that one got skipped)
Anyway, that's all I've got this time. I'm hoping this coming week will be a good one. Wishing the same to the rest of you as well!
