Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Now it's time for the Shinkenger Oh to show up. For me, this one is MUCH like a tribute to Battle Fever J's Battle Fever Robo! Just notice the design. It's been a long time since a robot with a very samurai feel first appeared. Even the finishing move is similar to the Lightning Cut in Battle Fever J. Who could ever forget that classic move? Now it's been made cooler than ever! Hopefully their commander will do a more fancy move than that of Battle Fever J to liven up the genre after I didn't find Go-Onger much entertaining.

I think Gao Silver has to be the biggest impact on sentai watching females throughout. Honestly I think he's the most handsome sentai hunk (but I ain't gay and I wish he and Gao White would end up together in real life someday, there's only a five years gap between them). Okay let's really move on to what I think really makes him different aside from the fact he's the only ancient in the group of Gaorangers. His story is quite interesting and it adds flavor to the show: he at a thousand years ago fought against the Master Org Hyakkimaru. To do so, he donned the evil mask of Loki (not the god of mischief but a wolf demon) to become powerful but at the cost of being possessed. He was sealed away and it came into Ura's attention a thousand years later when he was released. When one with Loki, he was a dangerous foe as he had his own cool Gao Hunter (which was my favorite for the whole series). So he really did cause trouble when he was one with Loki who later ...

This is the introduction of Smoky the Magical Cat in Magiranger to the Ozu Siblings. He's one incredible and powerful genie who appears to help the Magirangers. Enjoy this rather lively song number. As of now, I think it doesn't deserve a WTF (I'd like to say it as what's that funny) or an awesometicity. Still this video I found on Youtube is way too cool not to be shown.

So I kind of wish to write another villain tribute. I believe right now, he's still out there in another form, probably a thug or he has reformed, I don't know. But I'd like to write about what seems to be the most cold-blooded villain in Jetman. He was one evil guy who was acted by Daisuke Tachi. Maybe some of you complained about the "lack of performance" but hey, I thought he did pretty fine! He started off as the Count of Vyram and the right hand man of the Empress who only appeared for two episodes. At the beginning, he was the de-facto leader due to his immense power and force. So he challenged his three fellow officers- Maria (who he admires but she hates him so he's a guy with love life issues), Gure (his rival for Maria, weird) and Tran for leadership which must be won by defeating the Jetman force. He of course would NEVER let any of them overpower him and he had his temper issues even over trivial matters. He always made sure he was above eve...

Honestly I have to admit I really lost interest in some modern sentai just like I lost some interest in the past sentai because NOT all of them do have the "click factor" to soar that high to really deserve much praise for me. But I hope this one will do better than Go-onger and Gekiranger which for me may click with other people. Lately this 2009 there will be Shinkenger. This may be a modern version of Kakuranger or maybe even Bioman or Gingaman. Actually, it may be a mixture and hopefully, the genre will liven up even better than Boukenger. As far as concerned, the powers seem cliche at some point but it's a long time since Gingaman to have that. This is a preview of their robot. If you ask me, it seems to be a modern version of the Battle Fever Robo. Quite a long time that we had a shogun-like robot. I can't wait to see!!!

Nobody can deny this iconic character in Dairanger- the power of Daijinryu. He was neither Gorma or Dai but he was a sentient entity assigned by the gods to watch over the balance. For so long he remained asleep but he awakened during the Gorma threat when he had a full power charge to attack the Earth and demand the war to be stopped to preserve the cosmic peace of the Universe itself. I am amazed to see that such a powerful entity was so huge (and sadly, Saban reduced him to a family car that frequently used up power) that it could destroy planets as evidenced when he first appeared. I mean that fire blast is so devasting thanks to his size being far bigger than any giant characters. I think he's even bigger than Vulgyre in Fiveman. He spoke in an audible voice and threatened to destroy the Earth if the war between Gorma and the Dairangers didn't stop at all. The Gorma and the Dairangers had to call a truce but Shaddam tried to convert his son Kou to a full Gorma causing...

The Gorma Emperor was one of the villains I feel deserves a spotlight in my blog and now I've written it to give him credit he due deserves as one of the most interesting villains in history. He is acted by Munemaru Kouda, the one who acted as the vile Dr. Man in Bioman. It is established he is the fifteenth emperor and he somehow usurped the throne from the fourteenth either by rightful succession or by murder. Being endowed with powers probably greater than Bandora had made him insane to the point of killing almost everything he could to maintain his position. In episode 20, he mysteriously resurfaced and felt that only he could restore his empire to glory. Cold, sadistic and with a sick sense of humor made him very unorthodox for U.S. TV villains which may be the reason why Haim Saban chose to create a newer villain than use his footage. He was also the one to return to his Chamber of Command which was his before. So he reappeared and has decided to run things himself. With ...

After writing about Guy Yuuki, I feel Inou Masumi or Bouken Black deserves a tribute to be what I'd say a new alternative after a long time sentai doesn't present a very confrontational member. He does pay homage to Black Turbo with his advanced hammer weapon as well. He and Guy Yuuki are unique in many ways but they do share the similarity of being the "rebel character" who dares to question the leader and is jealous for many particular reasons and at times, a sub-chief who tries to keep the group together. Both are also tough fighters who use unorthodox fighting techniques in battle. As a child, he encountered Yaiba of Dark Shadow who would become his frequent rival when he grew up which is more unique than Guy Yuuki's rivalry with Grey as both are much darker. He joined the Boukengers but he had a plan of his own to make a profit- which is until he saw the importance of the mission. He had a rather tough personality which he dares to challenge Satoru Akashi...

The story of Ryu Tendo and Rie Aoi is indeed a tragic one. What if your loved one forgets who she is and turns evil? Can you accept it? Ryu was chosen to be the first Jetman soldier and at that same time, Rie was going to be to. Now about to be bathed in the bio energy to become a Jetman, things get really messy when the Vyram, an evil organization with no formal leader of its own, has Radiguet to sabotage the whole operation and Rie fell into the darkness of space. She did not die. Instead, she was turned into...Maria or Jetman's possible answer to Gel Sadora of Gatchaman. Ryu doesn't know that she is Rie that is until during the short term Ashu invasion. There she temporarily became Rie again but Radiguet turned her into Maria again. She was indeed his priced possession. Just for some creepy reason, Radiguet lusts after Maria. I just wonder did he fall for her while she drifted to him or was she just an experiment that he fell for? Either way, Radiguet seems to have a ta...

For all broken-hearted lovers, I really felt like Ial and Takeru deserve my tribute. I would like to tell the whole love story: So okay Takeru meets Ial without knowing that she was a spy from the Tube Kingdom sent by Zehba. They both fell in love and it was a forbidden love which was because she was an enemy spy. Defying Zehba for her love for Takeru, she chose to be encased in ice which I personally thought she was dead. This really breaks Takeru's heart and he is unsure if he could ever love again. He hopes that he will be reunited with his love and doesn't know where she is. He recalls her for some episodes like when he finds out that Igam is Ial's twin but doesn't know her gender yet (but viewers know already because Igam is obviously a woman from the flashbacks). The next thing is where eventually Takeru ends up being trapped by both Baraba and Kiros when he discovers Ial's true fate as trapped in ice (which she is still alive) and trying to res...

Honestly it's hard for me not to write a tribute to the red ranger with seemingly the most hidden power namely Riki Honoo or Red Turbo. He is one delinquent ranger student but man does he have all that hidden power which I will explain why. This is one blog entry you shouldn't miss for those who enjoyed Turboranger. Ever since he got his GT Sword, that magnificent GT Crash move has almost become a savior in many tough situations like against Noporo Boma. Another is where he is the one who could survive the most injuries especially in tough battles against rivals like Zimba, Yamimaru and Professor Leda. Okay let's move on to his real power against the enemy. During episode 28, he is the first one to regain the ability to henshin and survived a rather tough battle with Zimba ending it with a GT Crash. In episode 30, he could survive against Leda, Ragorn's most powerful minion in a one-on-one battle where the deathtraps were laid, even with the ghosts of Jarmin and Zim...

It may seem to be too late... but here goes. It's late but not too late to write a tribute to Bandora which for me is sentai's most memorable evil queen. In the U.S., she was known as Rita Repulsa but let's focus on Bandora shall we? Unlike the U.S. version where she just wanted power, she was one mighty wicked queen with a mighty wicked son named Kai. She wanted power all the more. One day while her son was cracking open t-rex eggs, she saw her son killed by a dinosaur. This caused her to fall into some kind of madness which she ended up striking a deal with the evil entity known as the Great Satan/Lokar a giant floating head (or so he seemed, I'd write an article on that later) to increase her powers. She then went to destroy dinosaurs which may have ended up creating the Evorian Earth in Abaranger but that's only my speculation. Fortunately Barza challenged her and with the help of the dinosaur gods, she was defeated and sealed off. But it wasn't the e...