I'm Just A Passing Through Super Sentai Fan!

Even if I am a Super Sentai fan who started out as that fool who pretended to know everything who also started out as a Super Sentai purist and somewhat a Power Rangers hater, I don't think I can reach the level of both Gai Ikari and Nobuo Akagi when it comes to my vibes.  Sure I started with Bioman and I didn't know much about Super Sentai.  Later, I would have my moments of Sentai hangovers, Toku breaks and Sentai snob moments which you can see, I really did abandon Super Sentai, decided to return to it and ended up being majorly wrong about it for some time and then I decided, "Gotta stop pretending to be an expert!"


One proof that I couldn't be considered a huge Super Sentai fan is that I even didn't know Kazuo Niibori back then until I saw Akibaranger.  Some may say something like, "How could you not know that guy!  You call yourself a Super Sentai fan?!"  I felt like that the stuntmen (in my view) had been treated like the Mecha Humans of Bioman.  That is as soon as they serve their purpose as doubles, they aren't all that remembered right?  Akibaranger was that show that got me to know his name and appreciate his efforts because he is that legendary red ranger stuntman from Battle Fever J up to Jetman.  I'll admit that I didn't even recognize him as the priest in Jetman's finale, one of the phantoms in Bioman or even that cowboy crook when he he guest-starred in Janperson.

When it comes to Super Sentai, my relationship with it can be a very fickle thing.  When I started viewing about Super Sentai in the Internet, I would admit I wanted to stop with the 90s and wished Timeranger ended the Super Sentai franchise and producers would come up with something new.  However when I started checking either awful HK subs like Hurricanger or the other older fan subs like Dekaranger, I would say "Hey it's not bad!"  The same was my relationship that around 2008, I ended up viewing Boukenger as a major comeback.  However, Shinkenger had really changed my opinion on Boukengers.  While I do still like Boukenger but Shinkenger for me is a better show.  Sho Aikawa as a writer either hits or miss... which I think Naruhisa Arakawa should have been Boukenger's headwriter.

I remembered the number of times I said something like, "Dang, Carranger should have never come out." but recently, I really facedesk whenever I remember I said that statement because Carranger is AWWWWWESOOOOOMMMMMEEE (pun intended) and I believe I said that during my Tokusatsu break.  I once said, "Zyuranger rocks, I don't know about Abaranger."  Then I remembered how with Maskman, I didn't immediately embrace the Galaxy Robo because I was too used to having only one robot.  I'll admit, I am pretty unfriendly to change but later, I realized that change isn't so bad if it's at the right hands.  I am also fickle with the more serious tones and lighter tones... like Zyuranger is considerably more serious than Abaranger but each to his own, right?  So I'll say many times I've eaten my words or regret doing stupid stuff I did before.

What might have caused my status as a casual Super Sentai fan is my own personal standards.  The more I watch old school Super Sentai series, the more I feel like new school lacks that flavor.  Now I do think Super Sentai series last decade were good except for Magiranger which I would say a million times that Houka is so annoying and Goseiger is too kiddie for my taste.  At the same time, n matter how much I would like most of last decade's Super Sentai, they wouldn't be as good as old school Super Sentai.  Shinkenger may be one of my favorites but I don't think it's in par with Yasuko Kobayashi's two magnum opus namely Gingaman and Shinkenger.  Maybe I'm expecting like, "Are you kidding?  Shinkenger is the huge magnum opus of Kobayashi." because Shinkenger is really a popular series but for me, that series may be cool but never as cool as other series.  I could only say that while Shinkenger is a great series, there's still better series out there because no Super Sentai season is ever perfect.


When Kyoryuger came out (and I'll admit I felt like I was shot several times or that I was beaten up pretty badly with one show I dislike after the other such as Samurai, Megaforce and ToQGer were involved), at first I felt like that I'll give it a chance.  The more I watch it, the more I felt like the whole show for me was terrible.  I couldn't even say it's better than Megaforce, Samurai or ToQGer - neither of them gave me what I want.  I felt like Power Rangers standards or Super Sentai standards, a lot of series were failures for me.  Okay I may watch some Kyoryuger soon (so at least I can criticize it properly), ToQGer for me was a disappointment while Samurai and Megaforce both flopped beyond description for my tastes.  I don't have a high hope for Dino Charge either even when Judd Lynn has returned... I felt like he's probably given up writing a good story.  All those shows made Gobusters which was a very unpopular season look good for me.  I confess, I'll marathon Gobusters over Kyoryuger anytime!

If you want to ask me what I think of Ninninger as of late, it's a bit of an improvement but I do have my issues again with the show's rather inconsistent pacing.  So yeah, I'm guilty of whining or saying "ONORE" too much (and I have my own fair share of mistakes in my past writing) that I feel like the series suffers from pacing.  Who's to blame?  Naomi Takebe the producer or Kento Shimoyama the writer?  What about other executives?  I feel the whole show has gone too gimmicky but again, it's about the toy sales right?  If anybody really annoys me in Ninninger it's Takaharu who I call as Bakaharu.  While me and Shogo B'Stard have had different opinions like our differing views on Boukenger that I like it but he doesn't but I agree with him, Takaharu is really Bakaharu.


What is also so funny is that before, I really had gone neutral on Kamen Rider but I ended up watching Kamen Rider Kuuga because I felt like, "I'm bored!  Let's try something new!"  I ended up watching Kamen Rider again and while in the past, I was a bigger fan of Super Sentai over Kamen Rider, as of recent the reverse happened.  Even if ToQGer and Kyoryuger for me were disappointing for my personal tastes, Kamen Rider Gaim was where I recovered from the direction Super Sentai took on lately.  I know ToQGer and Kyoryuger has its fans but I refuse to be a bandwagon fan.  I want to make my own stand and I want to stop my habit of hiding behidn other people's opinions.

I would also think of this, I used to be excited about the next Super Sentai more than the next Kamen Rider season.  As of late, the reverse has happened because I am more excited for the next Kamen Rider season than the next Super Sentai season or this, I found myself more excited for the next Kamen Rider Drive episode than the next ToQGer or Ninninger episode.  While watching Kamen Rider Gaim, I will admit I didn't feel so good about ToQGer.  Again, I am just voicing out my OPINION and I don't want to keep with my habit of either hiding under other's opinions or bandwagoning because fact is fact and opinion is opinion.

As of late, I feel like no matter how unpopular or popular my opinion is, I am entitled to it and I have my freedom to share it.  Looking at how my preferences change here and then, so really, I'm just that casual Super Sentai fan or I'll call myself as... "I'm just that passing through Super Sentai fan."