Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Well, it's GoGoFive's 20th year for the past few months now, isn't it? So I thought I might do a bit of picking my top ten episodes for this series. It's been 20 years and I thought GoGoFive still deserves its tribute as "Doing Fiveman right." with the Tatsumi family. Now, I'd like to pick my top ten favorite episodes. The show's so badass so it's hard to rank them so be patient with all the hasty choices, okay? 10. Rescue Activity Suspended (Mission 8) This episode features about learning from one's mistakes. Lightspeed Rescue did add a bonus by trying to replace the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers with robots. Kenji Inui ( who I wish was acted by Hiroshi Miyauchi ) appears as the rival of Dr. Mondo Tatsumi. Hmmm, can you imagine if Winspector's captain met face-to-face with a Super Sentai team? I just love how this episode shows that rivals too can be best friends. I also wish Mami Yamasaki from Winspector were the secretary alongside Inui...

Well, the summer episodes of Ryusoulger (and there's NO SUMMER BREAK ) has officially started. Does it look like we're getting a beach episode soon? It's the time to introduce Ryusoul Gold the sixth member. I remembered one of Kyoryuger's weak points (that is for me) was that the sixth ranger appeared too early. I was expecting him to appear with at least episode 17 or something. But it looks like we're getting an arc before he officially joins the team!  The beginning of the episode has a summer transition going on or is it? A new villain named Gachireus appears to where the Druidons are currently hiding. This causes Wizeru to disappear -- leaving Creon with a newer, crueler higher up! Did Gachireus got sent by a higher-up we are yet to see and yet to reveal himself or herself? The Ryusoulgers discuss the legend of Urashima Taro. The story was a Japanese fisherman who ended in Ryugu Castle for a long time. Time ran slower so when he returned back to o...

Sometimes, if there's a silly (if ever) reason why I tend to like older Super Sentai better is that I can watch at my own pace -- as if I could do the same thing with newer Kamen Rider this year! Now, I'm currently watching Denzi Sentai Denziman at my own pace. It will take some time for me to adjust to series that's before the Hirohisa Soda era -- I've had some hard time adjusting to Sun Vulcan and Battle Fever J too. Now, it's time to look at the first evil queen role the late Soga Machiko had. Is it me or does she look like Marvel Comics' version of Loki's daughter Hela? Machiko herself has played evil queens such as Pandora of Spielban (who was just downright f***ed up cruel) and Bandora of Zyuranger. Here, her first role exists as a wicked woman who has different standards for physical beauty. She thinks the Earth is ugly for her taste and decides to "beautify" it by distorting the world as she sees fit. This is a young Machiko serving her...

Image Source While Ryusoulger is airing back this Sunday of next week, the summer episodes are coming but I'd like to really express myself concerning possible Toei's love affair with dinosaurs. Now, let's take a bit of the long history Toei had with dinosaurs.  1992's Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and 1993's Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Toei itself started its affair with dinosaurs right after Jetman saved Super Sentai from what could have been its cancellation. Now, it was a bright new time to innovate and they probably wanted to give dinosaurs a shot -- just a year before Jurassic Park hit the scenes. Jurassic Park's novel was published on November 20, 1990, which was three years before it got adapted for the big screen. Jurassic Park was screened on August 11, 1993 -- which is just a very short time before Mighty Morphin' premiered. The characters in Zyuranger were dressed up like RPG characters instead of cavemen. The kingdoms in the f...

Toei loves dinosaurs, don't they? The amazing thing with the dinosaur Super Sentai series Abaranger and Kyoryuger is that they take place a decade after 1993. 1993 was that year when Toei struck gold in the U.S. with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers due to Jurassic Park. Then 10 years later they would launch Abaranger and 20 years later would result in Kyoryuger. A possible reference for the two movie characters may have happened. Ian Yorkland shares the same first name with a Jurassic Park character named IAN Malcolm. It has been some time since I saw the Jurassic Park movie in my childhood. If you've noticed, Ian Malcolm of Jurassic Park wore a similar jacket that Ian Yorkland would wear 20 years later. Both characters have their anti-heroic attitudes. Remember how Ian Malcolm started out as a cocky, know-it-all and both are gag-makers? Well, those traits were passed on to Ian Yorkland though the said character was a womanizer who lost a dear friend. Though both characte...

I can't really understand what really happened to me after Gokaiger or was it after Go-Busters? I started to pretend not to like Gokaiger as much because of some people who keep insisting it's the best Super Sentai ever without checking everything before or after it. Personally, I end up rewatching Go-Busters more than Gokaiger though I won't be such a staunch defender of said show. Then I thought about the reality that Super Sentai is really the longest running series ever. Changes happen here and there and some of them happen really well for some time (such as the late 80s to 90s and last decade) or just fall down flat (which is prevalent when writers just get overworked or the wrong writer-producer tandem) every now and then. Then there's also the case of not everything new will click immediately. Sometimes you need to check what went wrong and re-invent your innovative concepts like what GoGoFive did with Fiveman or what Gokaiger did with Kamen Rider Decade. Then ...

I would dare say that I can't enjoy everything equally. It's like I like Japanese music better than Korean music while liking Korean food better than Japanese food. I think the same has been with me, Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. I could still enjoy new school Super Sentai but not as much as the old school (for reasons like the quality of action scenes) all the while I think new school Kamen Rider is better. Okay, I admit, I was guilty of not really checking out much of the 2000s era until some life-changing scenarios such as I felt the need to take a vacation from Super Sentai or the moment the digital age got more advanced made me realized what I just missed. Then I watched more new school Kamen Rider. Lately, it's safe to say that I like newer Kamen Rider over newer Super Sentai for personal reasons. Sure, Kyuranger can be loads of fun but I got suckered into the medical dramas in Kamen Rider EX-AID and the darker atmosphere of Kamen Rider Build. I didn't want to ...

Yup, this is the summary of the full episode! Welcome to all you readers out there! I was hoping for some expansion of the Ryusoulger folklore then we've got it. I thought of how Zyuranger didn't do a very good job expanding the five tribes' folklores save the Yamato and Rishiya tribes. Now, it's time we meet a guest character who's from the Ryusoul Tribe! It's time for the news that Japan's first female prime minister (which I hope becomes a reality) was admitted into the hospital. Just then, something unusual is about to pop up as... Ui discovereth that PM Karino Mioko is actually hundreds of years old. Those women there aren't Karino's female ancestors but it's her. It's time to do some reality check, shall we? Banba and Towa arriveth at the hospital to pay a visit to the incumbent prime minister. She quickly realizeth that they are using Ryusoul gadgets! She revealeth that she was born from the Ryusoul Tribe to the sibling...

It's time for another Ryusoulger episode! It's time to conclude the Dime Volcano arc with this episode review. Well, what art thou waiting for? Read on? Ever have the feeling that newer Bandai merchandise tendeth to override the release that happened a few months ago? Granted, the Heisei era is over and the Reiwa era entered. Just expect all the glorious merchandise of the Heisei era to get overshadowed by the Reiwa era. Tyramigo getteth jealous over the arrival of Dime Volcano. Banba, Melt, and Towa are looking for the possible host. They do discuss on how to handle the jealousy Tyramoigo has. This remindeth me of the scene where Woody got jealous of Buzz in the very first Toy Story movie. If your Bandai merchandise were alive -- don't be surprised if your new toy suddenly got missing! The victim this time is a fireman trainee named Masaki. Last week's plot was too hanging to be concluded. The Druidons latest plot was to create a fireproof Menasaur. The...