The More I Watch Super Sentai, The More It Becomes Harder for Me to Appreciate Power Rangers!

If there's one thing as a Super Sentai fan, I end up choosing Super Sentai most of the time over Power Rangers. While I don't hate Power Rangers as of current compared to the past, I can go from love to like (my most common emotion to it) or to plain dislike for Power Rangers (my current status). So what's the real deal between Super Sentai and Power Rangers for me as of current?

I would be honest that the more I watch Super Sentai, the more I end up thinking, "Super Sentai is better." In what way? Remember I'm biased considering I'm am Asian guy with Chinese descent. So why do I think Super Sentai is better than Power Rangers? Why do I like the former better than the latter? I compare Super Sentai to spicy food and Power Rangers to non-spicy food. In a way, there are times I don't watch Power Rangers without ill feelings for it, or my opinions will change throughout the way. This is just my opinion so no flaming. You can still like both franchises though there will always be a choice you like better than the other.

For me, it's really just a personal bias. If Sentai can't click to America BECAUSE of cultural differences, Power Rangers doesn't fit to me that well because I'm Asian. But putting that aside, I really find Super Sentai to be more superior than Power Rangers in every way. I find the storylines, humor, musical scores, characters, writers and producers better than that of Power Rangers. Power Rangers for me usually has poorly written stories, just plain bad humor, annoying music, mostly one-sided characters and most of the time inferior to Super Sentai. I even feel annoyed with all the 'hiyaaaaa!!!!!" with the American accent. In fact, I don't really care if Power Rangers is more popular, I think Super Sentai is mostly better.


My classic example would be Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Personally, no matter how popular MMPR was, I think the series itself is one huge mess. No proper writing, a lot of bad humor (Bulk and Skull for instance) and the music ain't all that great. While I do like the MMPR theme song but Zyuranger's theme song IMO is better. Most of Zyuranger's music is better. Take for example "Hey Rita" vs. "The Song of Witch Bandora". For me, Bandora's song in Zyuranger beats off the miles. Story-wise and writing-wise, Zyuranger is superior for me. Bandora may have a comical side but unlike Rita Repulsa, she's not evil for evil's sake. Rita just wants to be evil, Bandora's evil is directed towards Earth's children. I can go blah blah blah all the more. Zyuranger has way more action than MMPR like Kimberly never fought Scorpina while Mei fought Lami.

How did I feel about Zyuranger when I finally watched it with subs? Although my hatred for Power Rangers had long disappeared, I still cannot deny it becomes hard for me to rewatch MMPR. Everything about Zyuranger is just WAAAAAAY better for me. I felt like watching an entirely new show. No Bulk and Skull, better stories, better humor... and Bandora's got a real storyline. I felt like that Zyuranger knew how to deliver more solid stories, way better stories than Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I felt like everything from plot organization to every detail was better than it was like Burai is way better than Tommy. My bigger bias is this... Zyuranger had a finale while MMPR overextended. I wanted MMPR to end by episode 40 as an adult. I didn't mind too much about its overextension as a kid since I was so into Kimberly BUT growing up, I felt like finales wrap things up. In fact, I choose to pretend at episode 40 of MMPR that the series ended. In fact, I don't really feel too much of the urge to rewatch MMPR except for guilty pleasure.


On a more biased side, while there are Power Rangers seasons that are watchable (and I'll admit, Power Rangers is not exactly my cup of tea), but there's also of inferior copy/paste to the point it's an inferior show. While I may discuss about Operation Overdrive and Boukenger but with the Disney era gone, I want to focus on Neo-Saban. The more I watch Power Rangers Samurai, the more it really numbs my brain. It's just too much copy/paste with all the bad acting. I even feel like the writer has no creative direction... why is he not modifying the story to fit for the U.S. like come on, they are NOT Japanese! So almost everything about Shinkenger wins for me, hands down! On the other hand, Mako became part of my superficial admiration during its earlier run. You can read here about one HUUUUGE stupid reason why I like Mako.

I will also admit this, I wasn't all that excited about Power Ranger Samurai either. Maybe it's because Shinkenger was so great. So Saban is back but somehow I felt like a real disaster was coming. It was disappointing. I'll also admit that whenever I'm done watching Super Sentai first, I really don't have too much of a heart to watch the adaptation. I tend to watch Super Sentai a lot more than Power Rangers. And I have developed some personal biases without ill feelings towards Power Rangers... because Toei is still part of it. Although if a Power Rangers season has something much different to offer or a pretty white girl, then I would watch it... hehehehe!


Backtracking to other eras of Power Rangers, Disney stared its own fair share of the ruin. So Ninja Storm was decent but it's not all that good for me. Now I can say that I do have a stupid bias which is because I still think Nanami is hotter than Tori. I do find Tori cute but Nanami is really smoking hot. Moving on, Disney's era for me was a huge mess during most of the Kalish Era I wanted Saban back, Saban returns but it just got worse. Disney era was so unwatchable I couldn't even go beyond one episode with mostly horrible acting, bad plots and just everything I don't like about the modern world of Disney that time.

It's just like it's already known I don't like Power Rangers SPD even if Syd's being annoying is more of her character and not the actress. Maybe it's because I was still in purist mode when I heard of it. Dekaranger for me is far superior to SPD. I started to make some biased comparisons like Hoji doesn't whine about his designated color, Umeko may be a ditz but she isn't vain or that Ban would never skip an obstacle course. Also, production crew was responsible why poor Sam was a ball of light. SPD did get dubbed by Dekaranger's cast so my hatred for the show just turned into dislike. I still don't like Power Rangers SPD.

However I do appreciate some seasons of Power Rangers. For example, Lost Galaxy and Time Force are decent seasons. Lost Galaxy can be credited for not copying/pasting too much from Gingaman, making it stand on its own. Time Force by adding Ransik and deviating from Timeranger - while it only keeps the time motif that makes it stand out on its own. When Power Rangers does something different from its source - I tend to think that it becomes worth a watch. Otherwise, copy/paste wouldn't do any good. I can still respect people who like Time Force over Timeranger and Lost Galaxy over Gingaman. In my case, I usually pick the Super Sentai sources out of cultural reasons. However does that mean I hate Power Rangers? No, I just don't like it and I can ignore it all the while I understand why Toei allows it to exist. A non-fan doesn't necessarily hate the show. If I don't like it then I don't watch it.

Maybe I can also raise the issue of Japanese vs. American standards. One of the reasons that made me hate Power Rangers was because of American TV standards. Common sense really... how can a villain attack cause minimal damage to a city and nobody gets hurt?! Common sense really okay? Fortunately Power Rangers managed to get a little more serious without crossing the line. Soccer moms are a real problem. It made me think of how Power Rangers is of lesser quality because of American TV standards. MMPR got overextended, then the Zordon Arc came thanks to the American TV standard. The overextension of the Zordon Arc made me want to bang my head on the desk many times. On the other hand a few seasons are watchable for me but they're still not as great.

All I can say is, I still respect Power Rangers but I can't like it as much as Super Sentai. Still, don't worry this is not a Sentai purist blog either. All I can say is, Power Rangers will still have a special place for me even if I like Super Sentai more. That is, even if I won't continue watching it, I'll still respect it nonetheless as part of Toei's family.