Super Sentai Seasons I've Finished I Felt Like Were Very Dark and Edgy
So I'll just talk about the series I've watched from start to end to avoid my usual pretending to be a know it all... which I've stopped now. So a dark series may be described as very mysterious or great unhappiness or unpleasantness. It can also relate to grim or depressing circumstances. Edgy means nervous, tense, harsh or unkind.
Hikari Sentai Maskman- I will admit I didn't immediately take a liking towards this series compared to Bioman's rather lighter nature (save the death of Mika Koizumi). Maskman itself is a very, very serious series though it had a few moments of comedy but the tone itself is really very dark and edgy. As a series, Maskman is more serious and the moments of comedy are reliant on what could be unintentionally funny or intentionally funny. Takeru for one isn't so lucky considering he's got to rescue his girlfriend Mio/Princess Ial, he has to fight her "brother" (sister) "Prince" (Princess) Igam and of course, his rivalry with Kiros. There's also the mysterious identity of Zeba that the series brings up every once in a while, until Zeba's full identity is being disclosed. I would admit every episode that leads to Zeba's identity is nightmare fuel, especially when it leads to the more hints that Zeba is some kind of demonic being born out of pure hatred. Maskman didn't immediately click with me as a kid but I grew to love it when I got older.
Chojuu Sentai Liveman- This is another series I find to be pretty dark and edgy. For one, it has the least comedy in the list imo and perhaps the darkest in the list. So one may protest that there were a few moments of comedy but none of them are lmao. I mean, Megumi's scolding, Jou's flirty character, Yuusuke's sarcasm imo and Ashura's ridiculously poor leve of Math are unintended comedy. The series however felt really a tragic one especially that... they lost two of their friends to three of their friends who made a Faustian pact with Grand Professor Bias. What I also found really serious here is the fact that the Livemen are faced with no choice but to fight their own friends. Mazenda is the opposite to Megumi and Kemp is hte opposite of Yuusuke. I really say the villains' decisions to keep on path of destruction makes them villains you love to hate one way or another.
Chojin Sentai Jetman- Yup I still think this is my favorite series. Jetman is dark and edgy for this. So you have Ryu losing Rie thinking she's died but unknown to him but a few (including the audience), Rie had become Maria. Ryu gets entangled with in a messy love polygon of Ryu loves Rie but Kaori loves him, Gai lovs Kaori... and Radiguet and Gure are included. Knowing Toshiki Inoue back then before he burned out and became that awful comedian, he wrote darker and edgier stories well with Faiz as the exception. I would also say Radiguet is really, REALLY the most disturbingly evil villain for many fans, considering everything he did in the show. Radiguet has every chance to get redeemed but what does he do? He chooses to remain in his depraved nature that chooses to judge civilizations as he chooses. Other stuff that made me want to kill Radiguet was when he manipulates people, murders people for pleasure, betrays them and you get the idea, he's definitely somebody I won't hire for an employee. He betrays everyone and manipulates everyone every chance he gets. One may also consider the tragic story of Ryu and Rie which was already, truly doomed to failure one way or another.
Gosei Sentai Dairanger- Now here's another darker and edgier series which I think exceeds even Jetman and Liveman. Dairanger had a few crack moments but the story itself is really, REALLY great but at the same time VERY, VERY SAD. The plots involving Daigo's love story with Kujaku, Demon Boxer Jin, Shadam's twin sons Kou and Akomaru, the Gorma and even the Dairangers pretty gets them into depressing situations. Daigo must face reality that he and Kujaku cannot be together which is predictable imo but at least well-written. Kou is a kid ranger but not a happy one... he must face the fact he is enemies with his own brother Akomaru, he is also the son of Shadam and he longs for his mother. As for Shadam, man words can't describe how this Radiguet 2.0 is really, REALLY hateful from start to end. I mean, Shadam doesn't care about his wife and two sons, all he cares about is his own power and he's a master of treachery. The Christmas special isn't happy at all either considering Kou lost his mom and brother, and he was also in the danger of becoming a Gorma. I may also admit that the mysteries behind Gorma are really unwrapping itself in a way that both satisfies audience while leaving audience to deduce the final events.
Juuken Sentai Gekiranger- Well it's a pretty dark and edgy series. While the 2000s Sentai were more fun (maybe except Timeranger, I've seen 17 clear copy episodes already and it's pretty serious). Gekiranger is full of mysteries and depressing scenarios. Now it does have comic moments but I thought the show itself has its serious plots like Retsu and Gou as siblings (which they did reconcile). But what makes the show for me dark and edgy is the whole plot between the Gen Juken and Rin Juken and why both sides clashed. Rio himself is a cold and calculating villain but later turned on to the right side. The real menace here is Long. Long has been around manipulating things for a long time, which he prolonged the many behind their backs. He's one evil backstabber who one way or another, doesn't know when to quit and was responsible behind the tragedies in the show including Jan's father Dan. Even the Christmas special in this show had a serious setting where Ken was trying to help an American kid get over his mother's death.
Tokumei Sentai Gobusters- This is a series that tries to return to being darker and edgier but it ultimately failed to impress me as much as the others I've listed above. Now I thought the series does get some positive reviews from a few (read this review by Dryed Mangoez). For me, I'm still mixed on this series though for me it's way more watchable than Kyoryuger. The series itself feels kind of really feels a dark series but maybe, I just had too much of a hype or what. But I would admit that the series does have some interesting potential but it was all that, perhaps Yasuko Kobayashi like Toshiki Inoue was already burned out. Like Kamen Rider Faiz's pace in story writing, this show had the problems of bad humor (Hiromu's fear of chickens is really no different than the bad humor Faiz has to offer) and not to mention spinning around in circles (thankfully not as much). However I find this series more watchable than ToQGer and Kyoryuger, though I might change my mind about ToQGer's silly nature (feels like Inoue's Kiva, a show which I enjoyed despite it being a very silly series with forced drama).
Hikari Sentai Maskman- I will admit I didn't immediately take a liking towards this series compared to Bioman's rather lighter nature (save the death of Mika Koizumi). Maskman itself is a very, very serious series though it had a few moments of comedy but the tone itself is really very dark and edgy. As a series, Maskman is more serious and the moments of comedy are reliant on what could be unintentionally funny or intentionally funny. Takeru for one isn't so lucky considering he's got to rescue his girlfriend Mio/Princess Ial, he has to fight her "brother" (sister) "Prince" (Princess) Igam and of course, his rivalry with Kiros. There's also the mysterious identity of Zeba that the series brings up every once in a while, until Zeba's full identity is being disclosed. I would admit every episode that leads to Zeba's identity is nightmare fuel, especially when it leads to the more hints that Zeba is some kind of demonic being born out of pure hatred. Maskman didn't immediately click with me as a kid but I grew to love it when I got older.
Chojuu Sentai Liveman- This is another series I find to be pretty dark and edgy. For one, it has the least comedy in the list imo and perhaps the darkest in the list. So one may protest that there were a few moments of comedy but none of them are lmao. I mean, Megumi's scolding, Jou's flirty character, Yuusuke's sarcasm imo and Ashura's ridiculously poor leve of Math are unintended comedy. The series however felt really a tragic one especially that... they lost two of their friends to three of their friends who made a Faustian pact with Grand Professor Bias. What I also found really serious here is the fact that the Livemen are faced with no choice but to fight their own friends. Mazenda is the opposite to Megumi and Kemp is hte opposite of Yuusuke. I really say the villains' decisions to keep on path of destruction makes them villains you love to hate one way or another.
Chojin Sentai Jetman- Yup I still think this is my favorite series. Jetman is dark and edgy for this. So you have Ryu losing Rie thinking she's died but unknown to him but a few (including the audience), Rie had become Maria. Ryu gets entangled with in a messy love polygon of Ryu loves Rie but Kaori loves him, Gai lovs Kaori... and Radiguet and Gure are included. Knowing Toshiki Inoue back then before he burned out and became that awful comedian, he wrote darker and edgier stories well with Faiz as the exception. I would also say Radiguet is really, REALLY the most disturbingly evil villain for many fans, considering everything he did in the show. Radiguet has every chance to get redeemed but what does he do? He chooses to remain in his depraved nature that chooses to judge civilizations as he chooses. Other stuff that made me want to kill Radiguet was when he manipulates people, murders people for pleasure, betrays them and you get the idea, he's definitely somebody I won't hire for an employee. He betrays everyone and manipulates everyone every chance he gets. One may also consider the tragic story of Ryu and Rie which was already, truly doomed to failure one way or another.
Gosei Sentai Dairanger- Now here's another darker and edgier series which I think exceeds even Jetman and Liveman. Dairanger had a few crack moments but the story itself is really, REALLY great but at the same time VERY, VERY SAD. The plots involving Daigo's love story with Kujaku, Demon Boxer Jin, Shadam's twin sons Kou and Akomaru, the Gorma and even the Dairangers pretty gets them into depressing situations. Daigo must face reality that he and Kujaku cannot be together which is predictable imo but at least well-written. Kou is a kid ranger but not a happy one... he must face the fact he is enemies with his own brother Akomaru, he is also the son of Shadam and he longs for his mother. As for Shadam, man words can't describe how this Radiguet 2.0 is really, REALLY hateful from start to end. I mean, Shadam doesn't care about his wife and two sons, all he cares about is his own power and he's a master of treachery. The Christmas special isn't happy at all either considering Kou lost his mom and brother, and he was also in the danger of becoming a Gorma. I may also admit that the mysteries behind Gorma are really unwrapping itself in a way that both satisfies audience while leaving audience to deduce the final events.
Juuken Sentai Gekiranger- Well it's a pretty dark and edgy series. While the 2000s Sentai were more fun (maybe except Timeranger, I've seen 17 clear copy episodes already and it's pretty serious). Gekiranger is full of mysteries and depressing scenarios. Now it does have comic moments but I thought the show itself has its serious plots like Retsu and Gou as siblings (which they did reconcile). But what makes the show for me dark and edgy is the whole plot between the Gen Juken and Rin Juken and why both sides clashed. Rio himself is a cold and calculating villain but later turned on to the right side. The real menace here is Long. Long has been around manipulating things for a long time, which he prolonged the many behind their backs. He's one evil backstabber who one way or another, doesn't know when to quit and was responsible behind the tragedies in the show including Jan's father Dan. Even the Christmas special in this show had a serious setting where Ken was trying to help an American kid get over his mother's death.
Tokumei Sentai Gobusters- This is a series that tries to return to being darker and edgier but it ultimately failed to impress me as much as the others I've listed above. Now I thought the series does get some positive reviews from a few (read this review by Dryed Mangoez). For me, I'm still mixed on this series though for me it's way more watchable than Kyoryuger. The series itself feels kind of really feels a dark series but maybe, I just had too much of a hype or what. But I would admit that the series does have some interesting potential but it was all that, perhaps Yasuko Kobayashi like Toshiki Inoue was already burned out. Like Kamen Rider Faiz's pace in story writing, this show had the problems of bad humor (Hiromu's fear of chickens is really no different than the bad humor Faiz has to offer) and not to mention spinning around in circles (thankfully not as much). However I find this series more watchable than ToQGer and Kyoryuger, though I might change my mind about ToQGer's silly nature (feels like Inoue's Kiva, a show which I enjoyed despite it being a very silly series with forced drama).
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