Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

This just in from JEFusion they have given an update on Kyuranger , I'd like to give my first impressions before it even airs. Zyuohger will end some time in February then Kyuranger will air on February 12, 2017. Here's my thoughts so far.

I can't exactly say how I feel. It's past December 25 and I'm writing a belated Christmas review. I admit, I'm getting excited to see how Kyuranger may turn out (it may not be the usual Super Sentai which may be a good thing) as well as more episodes of Kamen Rider EX-AID . Let's get started shall we?

After seeing this week's Zyuohger where Yamato finally meets his estranged father face to face, I was inspired to write this post. Here are a couple of Super Sentai warriors who had issues with their fathers. Let's take a look at them from past to present. Warning! Spoilers ahead!

It's too predictable that the man Yamato meets in the hospital is his estranged father. Yamato's had it rough seeing his mother die in front of him and his father's a pretty cold individual. This raises the question whether or not Yamato and his father will reconcile. I'll be writing a post on Sentai warriors with father issues so watch out for it.

This week's Zyuohger starts to reveal a little more about Kubar. Why was he planning to betray Master Genis? It turns out that no surprise or surprise (take your pick) that he actually lost his people to Genis during one of the Blood Games. I guess that makes him angry as ever to realize that he's been manipulated. He uses the arm of the deceased Bangray to get more memories and to attack the Zyuohgers. He also sets a brilliant scheme to try and defeat the others.

As expected, this week's episode is quite an improvement from the last one. Last week wasn't all too good but this week... Leo shines again. Is it me or does Leo seem to get a lot of good plots? Here he teaches a child what it means to be a man.

Here's the first promotional leak of Kyuranger which comes from JEFusion . Nine rangers? I don't know how's that even going to work. I feel like maybe we might see another new era of Super Sentai to be born after Zyuohger "ends" it. I feel like Super Sentai always had the tendency to have a "finale" series (which I may discuss later like Jetman and Timeranger) while after that finale series an entirely new era is born. Then the cycle starts again. So was Gokaiger really a "finale" series. Looks like it but sad to say the need for another "fresh start" may be badly needed due to diminishing ratings.

Since it's already December, I could kick start with a post of my top ten picks for Christmas specials. Remember this are just my personal preferences so don't get so onion-skinned if I disagree with you or if your favorite isn't here. Here's the list and I'll explain why each one is my personal favorite and note some of these may not even come from my favorite seasons or from less popular shows and Christmas specials from shows I have extreme favoritism towards aren't even here. Shuriken Sentai Ninninger (Shinobi 40-42) As much as I don't like Ninninger since I have my extreme favoritism towards Hurricanger (which I like better than Kakuranger, sorry Kaku fans!) but it was fun to actually see the three parter. First, we had a good message about being careful of people who give scams on Christmas. The next two parts involved a fun party game . It may feel kind of kiddie but it can still be enjoyed by an adult. It was pretty entertaining nonetheless.

I don't care if Zyuohger's ratings have hit low but I like the season. Okay, you know I'm getting irritated by Misao but the rest of the Zyuohgers are pretty good. So here's a bit of the summary. Sela falls for a guy who's played by Hiroaki Iwanaga. If you don't know him he was a regular character in Kamen Rider OOO as Akira and he was also playing the second Shaider. 

After writing on the champion years post for Tokusatsu  post, I included 1993 as one of those champion years for Toei's brand of Tokusatsu. Toei released its huge hit Gosei Sentai Dairanger. On August 31 1993 we saw Toei make its triumphant entry to the American market with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers with the help of Saban Entertainment. It was a champion year for Tokusatsu with more toy sales in both the Asian and American market. But I'd also call 1993 as a champion year for shallow minded fanboys!

Last week, we saw the return of Bard who has actually saved Yamato as a child and decided to save him as an adult. The Bardman stole the Champion Symbol but there's a reason which I find to be very intriguing. While it looked like he was just a petty thief but there's more than meets the eye. 

It's official. I've already added Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger to my list of Super Sentai I've watched from start to end . I remembered how I used to think it's somewhat similar to Liveman with the whole three plus two formula. So what do I think of the show? It's actually one of my favorites though I'm afraid that it might enter into the ranks of shows like Shinkenger or Gokaiger... shows that just get too much credit by the fanbase. Let's get started shall we? Just expect me to get so unfair with full mode rage bashing right now so proceed with caution. Warning! Spoilers ahead!

The mysterious Bird Zyuman is back after a hiatus of several episodes (didn't bother to count). I guess getting rid of Bangray was meant to make way for the Birdman but I thought it could be interesting to have Bangray hang around a little bit more. But I guess producers have no idea on what to do with him plus ratings have been slipping bad for Super Sentai. 

Due to WatchMojo's choice for top ten red rangers , I've chosen my own list. for Super Sentai Remember, this is my personal opinion so feel free to disagree. Here's my current top pick for favorite red rangers from bottom to top. If you have your list feel free to write your reasons down.

Most of Super Sentai's run featured a lot of good seasons. If I'm going to compare it to food, there's been more delicious servings than non-delicious servings. But as of late, the latest servings don't click with me like it did before. Super Sentai may get better or worse depending on who's in charge. Next year may be better and next year maybe worse. As the franchise has already reached up to 40 seasons and it's Toei's longest-running Tokusatsu series with no breaks since Battle Fever J's debut (two years after the less popular JAKQ ended). The franchise has been there for so long that it's already suffered from brand fatigue (ex. Fiveman back in the 90s) every now and then. A yearly release happens because of the demand for the series. With or without its Americanized counterpart Power Rangers there was always a yearly release for Super Sentai. Super Sentai really requires a lot of innovative changes to keep it going and not all of them work i

Knowing that Ohranger now has an official DVD, we know that DVD release of Carranger is coming. So it's time for another crazy rant. Okay, I like Carranger better than Turboranger but I could talk about a possible shift. When I'm talking about shifting into Turboranger, I'm not talking about Power Rangers Turbo but rather, which show will we go for? Will it be Turboranger or Carranger? Let's do some comparisons with both shows that use car magic to fight evil.

While I won't be doing my "My thoughts on Zyuohger in X episodes..." due to the weekly updates (And I wonder why the show's not clicking?!), I'm now thinking about writing this one after I wrote one for GoGoV  and Ninninger . I won't do any weekly updates (and maybe I'll drop doing episode reviews for now, other fellow bloggers or critics just keep beating me to it) on this one considering I've been watching this at my own pace (which is an advantage when I'm watching older seasons). Without much ado, I'll give my thoughts on this series. As usual, beware of spoilers.

It's nice to have cool special effects, fight scenes, new bunch of toys and they definitely are part of the innovative mix . What some may forget is that good story writing still matters for Super Sentai. It doesn't matter if it's a comedy, a well-balanced show or darker and edgier when you've got good writing. It's not about whether or not this Super Sentai season is old school or new school. It's also all about having a good writer to back up the series' concepts. I'm just writing this since there's no Super Hero Time this week. At the same time, I acknowledge that story writing is no easy walk in the park as I thought it was.

I got this idea from Shogo B'Stard's blog  though my views can be very different from his. For instance, I'm actually a fan of Hurricanger and Boukenger and he's not. I can agree with a few things he says positive about Power Rangers Time Force but I prefer Timeranger in spite of all the weaknesses he pointed out. Is this year a champion year for Toei's Tokusatsu? I don't think so considering that Zyuohger really has hit low (but I'm still a fan) though Kamen Rider EX-AID is a pretty interesting show. I don't know how Kamen Rider Ghost fared but I think I'll give it a rewatch. So what are my picks for Super Sentai shows that aired during what I might call as a champion year for Toei? That happens when Toei either offers better servings than usual for more than one season or they manage to hit big with their respective targets. It may also be considered as the time of the year when there's more than one major hit going on. So let's get movi

So far, this is the first Halloween Super Sentai episode. In the past, I remembered that Power Rangers had a few Halloween specials namely in Mighty Morphin Season 1, Mighty Morphin Season 2 and Power Rangers Zeo which I saw way back in the 90s. There was also Power Rangers Samurai, Power Rangers Megaforce and Power Rangers Dino Charge which I intend to skip. I don't find this episode to be that memorable either but it was fun in its own way.

There's a set of complete Hurricanger subs  and they're not those really bad quality Hong Kong subs. It's no secret that I had a lot of bad vibes and I mean super bad vibes with Ninninger. Ninninger's crossover with Kamen Rider Drive was pretty decent. Just that, Kamen Rider Drive kept me occupied and hooked while Ninninger made me drop it and watch it and eventually I dropped it. I don't even know if the fault is Kento Shimoyama's, Naomi Takebe's or is Super Sentai suffering from franchise fatigue considering that it's Toei's longest running Tokusatsu series .

It's really upsetting whenever I find out that I'm a fan of a less popular Super Sentai season. I'm a fan of Turboranger, Fiveman, Ohranger, Carranger and Go-Busters which all had lower than 5% ratings . I'm a fan of Kamen Rider Black RX which wasn't as popular as Kamen Rider Black. I'm also a fan of Kamen Rider Kiva which may be considered as Toshiki Inoue's era of burning out to the maximum. It's time to talk about how Zyuohger is now getting the worst ratings as of late. I don't even know what to think about this one but I hope it can recover.

It's sad to see a cool villain die. I know how it felt losing some really cruel adversaries get written off so soon like Prince Junior in Kakuranger and Gurail in Megaranger. I felt that Bangray should remain like Basco did but I guess the producer Takaaki Utsunomiya no longer wanted to do anything with him. 

If there are new school Super Sentai designs that have the retro look, one can take a look at Super Sentai designs that "went ahead of its time". It's amazing that there are times certain old school entries would outdo themselves in the time period they're in. Zyuranger's Guardian Beasts I could consider Zyuranger as the start of innovative designs that made mecha look better than usual. One can argue that there's some cool old school mecha but I think some of them were simply more or less consistent with the timeframe. But Zyuranger showed more badass looking mecha than what Battle Fever J up to Jetman had to offer. Sure, it's not the best series ever but I think the mecha designs in Zyuranger look better than the simpler looking mecha of Abaranger and Kyoryuger. Funny how Abaranger and Kyoryuger while being more "high-tech" has simpler designs. Again, some newer stuff today look simpler but perform better.

If one takes a look at Super Sentai mecha up to present, a lot of the designs may not easily click with newer fans. Some of the mecha back in the 70s to 80s tend to have absurd designs or mechanisms. Goggle Robo, Dyna Robo and Change Robo have cone heads. Dyna Robo's probably the weirdest mecha design in the 80s. Maskman's Galaxy Robo had tit guns which is that funny. Let's take a look at some post-Timeranger school mecha that had that retro feel. They may look like they were designed for the 70s to 80s but they are for the 21st Century. They end up having better colors and they're accompanied by better CGI effects not available during the past. Engine Sentai Go-onger While Carranger managed to produce better-looking vehicle mecha, Go-onger started a bit more of a retro-look. The mecha look like they would only be driven by children in contrast to the mature-looking cars of Turboranger and Carranger.

Bangray's back and nobody knows when he's going to show up next. Bangray wanted to get Cube Whale and the decoy plan doesn't work. What I like about Bangray is how genuinely threatening he is... from manipulating memories to actually finding out the obvious trick. He planned to bait out Cube Whale with his latest attacks.

Super Sentai usually creates likable characters for most of its run. But there are times Super Sentai has its flaws of creating characters that aren't likable. Some of them can be overly idiotic, whiny or just plain cold or super cold. I guess it's all part of trying to create some "badly needed conflict" with the show. This time, I'd talk about these two pink rangers who I noticed are indeed... head bitches in charge. These are namely Yuuri from Timeranger and Sakura from Boukenger. They may be eye candy but they're not as sweet as they look. Don't say I didn't warn you. Remember, spoilers ahead so read at your own risk!

This week's Zyuohger has both Leo and Amu fascinated by sumo wrestling. A new technique known as the Cat's Trick is practiced by two sumo wrestlers. With the Zyuohgers put in an incapacitated state where they can't stop doing sumo, it's up to Leo and Amu to save the day!

With Super Sentai currently airing its 40th season (and it's not as big as an anniversary as Gokaiger), I want to also talk about why toy sales may really matter for the franchise. For the past 39 seasons, with the current 40th season and we're getting a 41st season (which is said to be Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger), I want to look at the toy sales. New innovations for Super Sentai keep translating into toy sales and collectibles. The gimmicks can be seen with the use of transforming gadgets, individual weapons (for some series), adding various new mecha designs and more new characters for the series. All these because we've got to sell more toys .

After four episodes of epic action, we're back to typical Super Sentai episodes with villains launching their necessary to keep the show going half-brained schemes. In this episode, the monster of the week Omoteura flips everyone's darker side and amplifies it.

Last episode featured Cube Whale as an out of control Cube Animal. The preview already showed that it could become Dodekai-Oh. This week's episode becomes a good toy commercial.

It's been some episodes now since the 2,000th Super Sentai episode but I still want to talk about Gokaiger's successful ambitious voyage across the Universe. I would assume that back then a lot Super Sentai fans would have already dreamed of a massive Super Sentai crossover. Years later, Gokaiger accomplished that and a lot of fans got what they were asking for: a huge anniversary Super Sentai crossover.

Episodes 28-29 were celebration of Super Sentai's 1,999th to 2,000th episode. We have Zyouh Whale introduced as Yamato Kazakiri's third form. It's time to tackle on what could be a more exciting part of Zyuohger.

I remembered a couple of years ago, Shogo wrote on his opinion on the sixth rangers . Now it's my turn to write about them. I could start by saying that the sixth hero innovation has me mixed. Some of my favorites in the shows were the sixth heroes. Others weren't my favorites. Please don't look for the Magne Warrior and X-1 Mask here as they weren't official members of Bioman and Maskman. So without much ado, here are they. Also, this won't include extra rangers but only those who are officially SIXTH in the show. Without further ado, let's get into the sixth ranger list. Remember, spoilers ahead so read at your own risk!

This year, the Moon Festival fell on this day of September 15, 2016. It's been ten years since Boukenger but I see no harm in actually bringing back Boukenger episode 13, "Phantom Thief Selene". The actress was played by Nana Yanagisawa who later on played Megumi Aso in Kamen Rider Kiva. Note that the episode didn't air during the Mid-Autumn of 2006. What's a bigger coincidence is that Super Sentai hit its  2,000th episode  on the week of the Midautumn Festival. Phantom Thief Selene was presented to be looking for the potion of immortality. It's also something that the Jaryuu wanted to get. After the episode's end, we see that Selene (who's named after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene) may actually be Princess Kaguya herself. The immortality potion may have been derived from the Chinese version of the story. It's still better to treat Princess Kaguya and Chang Er as two different characters though. The story of Princess Kaguya does ha