Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

I remembered how I wrote about how I called GoGoFive as a product of Fiveman and Winspector . Now one can always argue that Timeranger is the end of the 20th century Heisei era Super Sentai yet GoGoFive is the end of the 90s. We can consider how it seems the 90s got planned accordingly by Toei huh? GoGoFive can be considered as a pretty innovative series yet I can't deny that I do have my shifting opinions towards it . So what's with the 90s? The 90s can be considered an era where I have a love-hate relationship with it -- those were simpler times yet who can remember some technology you're glad won't make it into the space age of Kyuranger? There are some great shows from several places before they sucked. The 90s Super Sentai can be like that and I still think the 80s to 90s Super Sentai are the best while newer generation fans can't relate to that, right? So how did Toei's Tokusatsu series open during the 90s? The Kamen Rider series was put on hiatus and t...

So I guess the same Power Rangers snobs from last decade (or earlier) who made up the lies that Mighty Morphin' was more popular than Zyuranger in Japan or that Lost Galaxy is more popular than Gingaman in Japan (though no offense to Lost Galaxy fans who like said show over its source). So I may no longer like Shinkenger that much like I used to (though it's still in my list of favorites) because I think Yasuko Kobayashi's best work is Timeranger, I don't like the idea of fans giving it too much praise but to call it the "benchmark of last decade's quality" is just funny. I even want to say I wonder if such people ever saw other Super Sentai before and after it -- I even think Gekiranger was the best Super Sentai series during the 2000s! But I'd like to address the idiocy behind the rumor. Yeah, I know I've done some really insane stuff before (and it's an old shame if you ask me) -- I'd just like to do a bit of common sense testing. I r...

Bonjour my readers! Well it looks like le days that I'm pretending to be French are over but you guess I wasn't French huh? It's almost for le final episode. This is going to be that intriguing turn of events when both sides will have to join forces to defeat le Gangler.  Last week's episode features le Lupinrangers finally unmasking themselves to save a friend . Le Global Police now investigate le restaurant Bistror Jurer for clues but they don't find any. This scene has Keiichiro expressing his rather human side -- beneath his tough guy jerkass behavior is still a heart of gold that's hidden under it! Keiichiro still wants to cool off one way or another after what just happened. Meanwhile, le Lupinrangers move to what could be le Lupin Estate. So did Noel inherit said estate and it looks like he's been that young master after all! They are now le headlines after they voluntarily unmasked themselves to save Noel. I don't really blame Sak...

I keep hearing of how great the super-rushed Power Rangers RPM is. I can't really compare RPM to the rather goofy happy-go-lucky Engine Sentai Go-Onger. Instead, I think I can compare it to a series that came a few years later namely Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. The references from Power Rangers can be seen such as every robot is called a Megazord (though Timeranger had an enemy mecha called G-Zord), the phrase "It's Morphin' Time" and a sentient computer virus for an enemy. I may not consider Go-Busters to be a perfect series but so far -- I think it's my favorite post-Gokaiger Super Sentai. I do like Kyuranger but I think Go-Busters still gets better -- maybe because cause it's Yasuko Kobayashi? Maybe, maybe not. With the upcoming Beast Morphers series (and I wonder if Hasbro can pull it off) -- I felt like I wanted to write this article in response. I know RPM did the doomsday thing where the enemies won from the beginning, I wish it happened in Go-Bus...

I heard of a rumor that Power Rangers SPD was supposedly more popular than Japan. Huh? Really? It was like the rumor that Lost Galaxy was supposedly more popular than Gingaman in Japan which was long proven false by Sentai Bandicoot aka Fantasy Leader. So I thought about the whole rumor and why it's just blatantly false. While I do admit that the Dekaranger main cast voiced their SPD counterparts, I do admit Power Rangers gets dubbed into Japanese in Japan but is it really all that popular? I think Power Rangers only gets dubbed in Japan for cultural exchange reasons (and I don't buy the story that the franchise is supposedly an act of "cultural erasure" either) but lying that SPD is supposedly more popular than Dekaranger in Japan is uncalled for. Was it from the same people who spread the rumor that Lost Galaxy (which was popular in the U.S.) was more popular than Gingaman (which was popular in Japan)? I can't be certain but seems like it. Now it's tim...

Bonjour my readers! Well it's time for le final arc as it develops. This time, le Phantom Thieves are now unmasked before the audience. So let's get started shall we with this weekly review as Lupin vs. Pat is about to reach its conclusion! We start where last week left off with le capture of Noel . Noel is about to become a human dissection and it's broadcast live. I find le whole idea to be quite frightening even if it hasn't happened. Fortunatetly, Super Sentai right now must follow whatever guidelines Japanese censorship has in regards to le amount of violence. This is pretty much a dilemma on le side of le Lupinrangers. Kogure says that there's no need to retrieve Noel. So did Noel ask Kogure for such a request that his life isn't as important as gathering le Lupin Collection together? It looks like it! Meanwhhile le cops themselves get caught in le same picke. They couldn't really just leave Noel behind so they decide to barge. Unfortu...

Bonjour readers! Well Lupinranger vs. Patranger may have finished its filming yet we can't deny this one -- the show isn't over yet and we do have four more episodes before le show ends. Things are getting tighter as le finale arc is about to begin! Sakuya is still at doubt to what Keiichiro has figured out. Is it me or does love or even mere infatuation make you blind? He still doesn't want to believe that Umika is indeed part of le Phantom Thieves. He decides to ask her out on his day-off -- trying to get an answer from her.  Currently, le Patrangers' side are still running their investigations on le possible identities of le Lupinrangers. They are now trying to conduct an investigation while still worrying about possible Gangler attacks. Now here's where things can get funny and tight. Both Kairi and Touma think that Sakuya is trying to extract information from Umika. Sakuya wants to confirm that Umika isn't Lupin Yellow. I always tend to fe...

I remembered picking up GoGoFive and watching it then I thought about how Chikyu Sentai Fiveman nearly killed Super Sentai or how I prefer GoGoFive over Fiveman . Fiveman really just felt flat as Hirohisa Soda was already burning out. GoGoFive already had Junki Takegami working things out since Megaranger though one may argue Engine Sentai Go-Onger was a result of said writer burning out! The song "1-2-3-4-5 FIVEMAN!" was stuck in my head considering that the GoGoFive team were siblings which is why I don't really compare it much with Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue too often -- except for the very trivial differences! A family vs. family battle was a strong recurring theme of the show. You've got the Tatsumi siblings who must deal with their father's difficult choice of having "abandoned" them and only sending whatever means of support he has -- think of Voltes V where Kentaro Gou/Prince Lagour made a difficult choice to leave his Earth family behind...

Turboranger is pretty much what I've heard is a love it, like it, dislike it or for some even hate it but I'm a Turboranger fan. I could go ahead and rant all day that Turboranger as flawed as it is -- it's still better than Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers IMHO . Then I thought about celebrating its upcoming 30th anniversary would require something special after I had a friendly debate with Shogo B'Stard with what we both liked and disliked about the show. So here's my favorite episodes done in the same format as before -- Sentai Bandicoot style  -- that is where certain arcs are compiled as "one episode". So let's get moving! Turboranger 02 - 03 Basically the start of Turboranger. It may not be the best of Hirohisa Soda anymore (considering he's been burning out after writing for so long) but I always felt that it may be older than Mighty Morphin' but the first two episodes were far more well arranged than the other. I thought of how th...

Well Bonne Annee to all my readers or belated one since this episode aired not on New Year's Eve (boo) but on January 6, 2019 which is le first Sunday of 2019. So why wasn't this just made a Year End special than a year opening one? This is just a clip show which starts to refresh our minds of incidents before le series wraps up! Well is it me or is it tradition in Japan to make New Year's wishes? Le Lupinrangers go to make their wishes but as said -- be careful for what you wish for! Now it turns out we're having a crazy game show but IMHO -- it's really an intermission episode.  Well one ambitious Porderman (called Red Modified Porderman) has a game show where he intends to trap le Lupinrangesr in a series of tasks. I won't be tackling on le challenges like I did during le Kyuranger episode where I called it " Remaking Takesh's Castle ". There's le laughter challenge. What I think is either not funny or overused -- le whole men in w...