Should A Super Sentai Anniversary Be By Year Or By Entry Number?

 

Granted, next year would be the 30th birthday of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Gosei Sentai Dairanger - I decided to write this post during Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger's 30th year. There's celebrating a franchise's anniversary between its year (birthday) or by its entry number. Power Rangers celebrated by season number. However, 2013 and 2023 (which is next year) are celebrated by time passed since 1993. Power Rangers Ninja Storm wasn't the anniversary. Yet, it seems that after Nickelodeon took over (and that split into two seasons is just stupid) - the whole celebration focused on the age of Mighty Morphin' since it came into existence. Yes, in 1993 when Toei finally got Western revenues. 

Liveman as the 10th series and the Turboranger clip show

One needs to think about the history of Super Sentai. I guess a lot of older fans know that Himitsu Sentai Goranger and Dengekitai JAKQ weren't always part of the Super Sentai franchise. I remembered how Chojuu Sentai Liveman was once the tenth anniversary. Kosoku Sentai Turboranger gave a clip show from Battle Fever J up to Liveman. Turboranger was the 11th series. Technically, Turboranger was aired in 1989 - which is the tenth year after Battle Fever J was introduced in 1979. Liveman was the tenth series. 

The clip show should be a part of the history of Super Sentai. It's not an actual episode since events here can't be truly connected. Yes, you really need to think that MOST Super Sentai series are self-contained. It was a nice review class What was cooler though that Turboranger itself NEVER made any reference. Instead, we simply had the villains going, "For 20,000 years we're finally free! Now it's time to conquer the Earth!" type of villainy. 

This is where I feel things can be weird. Should Super Sentai as a franchise celebrate by its birthday or by its entry? This would start to take a bit of a weird turn as the years went by. 

The 1990s great retconning of the Super Sentai franchise

For me, no matter how much I'm going to beat up Power Rangers Zeo because I think Choriki Sentai Ohranger is better - the latter isn't really a masterpiece. On its own, I think Ohranger is still a messy series even if it doesn't have all those throwbacks, even if Hiroshi Miyauchi himself becomes a valuable footnote as a new character, and the year was 1995. Goranger aired in 1975 and ended in 1977. Phew! The two-year-long run can be a real pain to rewatch. Fortunately, Super Sentai has managed to establish its formula with a year-long run instead of too long or too short. JAKQ still reminds me of more reasons why I dislike the Disney era of Power Rangers - it's too rushed! 

I think Miyauchi's appearance here was no coincidence. Sure, one can think that Miyauchi had his commander role in Tokkei Winspector and Tokkyu Solbrain as Captain Shunsuke Masaki. Here, Miyauchi is already Commander Miura. I think Miyauchi's return maybe because it acknowledges how he was Banba aka Big One in JAKQ. JAKQ was canceled too soon due to a lack of popularity. Yet, Big One somehow became an iconic character years later. 

1995 became the celebration of Goranger's 20th birthday. Overall, it was also the 19th series though. Gekisou Sentai Carranger was going to be the 20th. Both series were hit by really low ratings of 4.4% and rose up to only 4.8% the next year. Denji Sentai Megaranger became the savior of Super Sentai after two "anniversary seasons". 

Though it seemed the great retconning was done on purpose. Turboranger was the 10th anniversary of Battle Fever J. Carranger became the 20th Super Sentai entry. I believe it was intentional that Carranger was meant to shift into turbo after all. 

The great retcon had been played through ever since...

Is it me or does Mirai Sentai Timeranger feel like it was supposed to end Super Senta? Granted, Super Sentai gets the reboot treatment every now and then. For example, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters makes almost no reference to any past season like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger heavily did. It would be very important to note that Timeranger itself had a clip show AT THE END. Again, please DON'T ever use the clip show to justify the idea that all Super Sentai belong to a singular timeline. Yeah, I tried it before and I think some fans of Power Rangers might be saying, "Are you kidding me? What about the Timernager clip show?" Well, they might belong to that group that thinks Timeranger was too serious (which I think it is and why I love it) and that Samurai Sentai Shinkenger or Go-Busters would be the greatest work of Yasuko Kobayashi. 

Timeranger's clip shows special featured Goranger as the first Super Sentai. We get a review where we realize Battle Fever J is the first series that featured what's technically a Megazord. Sure, I dislike Power Rangers but I can't resist using those terms. The whole show features 23 entries before it. Speaking of which, Timeranger was aired in 2000 making it the silver anniversary even if it's the 24th entry of the franchise.  It would be the silver anniversary of Goranger five years after it was retroactively included. So, in a way, Timeranger was an anniversary season based on NUMBER. 

We have Himitsu Sentai Gaoranger as the 25th entry. Meanwhile, Power Rangers Wild Force (in 2002) became the tenth season (or installment) of the series. I guess both Gaoranger and Wild Force both had their merits and demerits. Both series did have the obvious, "It's an anniversary." special. We had "Forever Red" (as an episode) while there was Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai. The logo had the blatant 25th and Wild Force had the blatant 10th. Strangely, Power Rangers Ninja Storm was 10 years after Mighty Morphin' yet it didn't feel like an anniversary. Instead, Super Sentai instead celebrated it (and I still think it was intentional) with a dinosaur series in Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger. 

The tradition was ongoing as most anniversaries were by entry number instead of the year. Mahou Sentai Magiranger (which I think is really agonizing these days) wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Meanwhile, Gougou Sentai Boukenger was the 30th entry of the Super Sentai franchise. All the design references (but not plot references) were there. I couldn't help but compare Gaja to Black Cross Fuehrer, Gekkou to Tack the Owl, and Ryuon to Daizyujin. Gokaiger became the 35th series and Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger became the 40th anniversary. Once again, all based on the entry number.

When 2013 (which I call not a good year) also had a weird trip...

I still feel that Nickelodeon's decision to give every new Power Rangers series a two-year-run to be DUMB. Yeah, that one also gave me a reason to skip Power Rangers since why do I want to wait for an entire summer in between episodes? Granted, 2013 would be the 20th anniversary of Mighty Morphin' and we had two shows that were blatantly that! Those are two series that I practically dislike namely Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and Power Rangers Megaforce.

Kyoryuger was yet another dinosaur Super Sentai. It had a lot of amazing stunts. I'd say Power Rangers Dino Charge had good stunts too. Though, I'd really have had issues with Kyoryuger. Sometimes, people can ask why I dislike it. Maybe, it's because I think Abaranger has better storytelling. I feel that Dino Charge also was the beginning of Judd Lynn's crashing down. Though, I'd always say that Kyoryuger was truly a bloated mess IMHO. Riku Sanjo rocks with Kamen Rider but ends up not doing well with Super Sentai. 

Yet, what I don't want to deny is that Kyoryuger was most likely because Mighty Morphin' was turning 20. I guess Toei Ltd. still wants to celebrate its entrance into the American market. Sure, I don't like Power Rangers but I acknowledge it as Toei's ticket to the Western market. Watching The Toys That Made Us on Netflix helped me understand that. Besides, I feel naming the pink ranger as AMY doesn't look coincidental. It's most likely because Amy Jo Johnson was also a pink ranger. Still, it's no secret that I still dislike Kyoryuger overall even with all its impressive stunts. 

Then comes the biggest colossal mess that Toei ever licensed namely Megaforce. I don't hate the cast after seeing them do something beyond the show. Looking at the videos of the cast outside their show says, "They can do something. Too bad their show downright sucks!" This is where an anniversary is now based on the birth year of the first series than the entry number. It's because that stupid season split is complicating things like wearing broken glasses. It's different than how Power Rangers Operation Overdrive was the 15th entry. Sadly, it seems most Power Rangers anniversaries after Power Rangers Wild Force aren't really given proper care! 

The series decided to well get into what I'd call the Mighty Morphin' hype. Megaforce did the blatant references (in part) such as how Emma did Kimberly's line from 20 years ago. The show was mixed from two materials - Tensou Sentai Goseiger and Gokaiger. Granted, it was an anniversary so Ranger History lessons aren't really out of place. My ongoing complaint is how often Power Rangers focuses on too many throwbacks even on NON-ANNIVERSARY entries. That's what I felt really crashed down Power Rangers Beast Morphers. Beast Morphers' heroes were good. It's the show that just got stuck once again in Nostalgia Land. 

Yet, we do have this curious case of Ranger History lessons on these entries...

It's already known too much about how I'm no fan of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger. Sure, it does feel "good" now with Power Rangers Ninja Steel doing bad. Still, I'd say Ninninger is only SLIGHTLY better. Getting rid of Victor and Monty makes Takaharu become even more unbearable! Sure, Takakaru may not be as stupid as Victor and Monty. Still, this is where I'd call it "Innovation gone wrong!" Though, Takaharu did vindicate himself in the Super Sentai Strongest Battle. Still, I have no intention to rewatch Ninninger. Now, I'd like to do a PAINFUL recall of this series. Yes, I'll forever say that Ninninger is only better because the girls are hotter. Other than that, I'd really avoid a rewatch of it!

Ninninger really was blatantly not its own continuity in some way. Maybe, it's really part of the whole VS. Universe where Gokaiger resides. Guest stars here and there were thrown. I was ready to complain until I did the math. 2015 was practically 40 years after Goranger first aired! I think Ninninger was really meant to be an anniversary for Goranger. The occasional references to older seasons just can't be avoided. Heck, why did they even bring Jiraiya into the series? 

I guess it was only normal that Ninninger was making some throwbacks and easter eggs. It's because it was the 40th birthday of Goranger in that year. Then we had Zyuohger as the 40th entry. Things weren't looking good. In fact, the crossover with Zyuohger even had the famous line, "The history of Sentai, it's over!" I must confess part of me actually wished it were real! I felt Super Sentai was running for too long already. That's until Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger came in and I flip-flopped after wishing the statement from the crossover was real. 

Mashin Sentai Kiramager was on the 45th birthday of Goranger. Yup, the blatantly done easter eggs were there. The monster designs truly gave the vibes of the Black Cross Army. Though, the enemy wasn't some kind of revival of the Black Cross. Yet, we do have the curious episode where Miki Masaki from Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger made a guest role. It's not the actress Kazue Itoh playing a different character. It's Kazue reprising her role all over again! I was wondering what in the world happened for this random easter egg to appear? Fortunately, the throwbacks weren't as plentiful or it'd ruin everything. I felt this episode was really almost as random as Go-Busters having Ucchu Sentai Gavan for two episodes. 

Unlike Ninninger, the Ranger History lessons were quite minimal. Instead, Miki's arrival was more or less nothing more than a random last-minute decision. It wasn't as big as how Ninninger gave that Ranger History lesson in some episodes. Still, I think Kiramager could be easily forgiven for that Ranger History lesson. After all, the show would be technically an anniversary for Goranger itself. 

I still feel that both Kiramager and Ninninger were meant to celebrate Goranger. Ohranger's visors are obviously a tribute to Goranger. The whole great retcon in 1995 is still continued. I guess no matter how much I felt Goranger and JAKQ didn't age well - I still have my respect that they started the series. It's like no matter how much I don't bother to play the first two Super Mario Bros. games (and yes, I really hate Super Mario The Lost Levels with a passion) - I still feel those games are still worth honoring. I guess Toei Ltd. decided to respectfully build two anniversaries later on - one for Goranger and another based on entry number.