Toei's Ambitious 1990s Era Revisited
There's something about the 90s that really still sticks and appeals to me. I may be enjoying newer stuff but being a kid in the 90s can be something. I could talk about the 1990s and how it felt Toei was probably too ambitious for its own good.
1990
The 1990s started with new ideas. Fiveman though it does have a problem with the toy sales and nearly ended Super Sentai - it was eventually vindicated by history. The 1990s started with Fiveman and Winspector and ended with GoGoFive. Although Fiveman was really a downer due to Hirohisa Soda's burnout - Winspector was a pretty much ambitious direction for the Metal Hero franchise.
How is Winspector ambitious? If one would actually take time to watch GoGoFive and Winspector - one may find the latter's storytelling to be more mature. Winspector tried to explore a more human side of henshin heroes. Rather than have the typical, "Okay, we've got all the powers to save the day!" - the heroes are more like your average rescue heroes. The protagonist Ryoma can only be Fire for six minutes? Walter and Bikel aren't really superpowered either. The show itself tries to mix everyday rescue missions with science fiction and the supernatural. The concept worked like a charm that it spawned both Solbrain (1991) and Exceedraft (1992) as similar shows. Solbrain was a direct sequel while Exceedraft was nearly intended to be its own continuity.
1991
The bad performance of Fiveman didn't stop Toei. I heard Jetman was supposed to be the last Super Sentai but its success led Toei to continue the franchise. It doesn't seem to be it granted with all the effort put into Jetman. Jetman ended up causing Super Sentai to rise up like a phoenix! It made up for Fiveman's shortcomings with better toys. Fiveman though it had good acting and a new concept did have problems with Soda's burning out. Toshiki Inoue would later be a head writer for Kamen Rider and be an important Super Sentai secondary writer.
1992
Zyuranger itself would be an ultimate breakthrough during the 90s. More ambitious designs were on the way from the suits to the weapons and to the mecha. Although the show does get some flak for being too child-focused - I guess that's the charm at times. The show itself may have increased toy sales with better-looking animal mecha than what Liveman could offer. One could consider the badass design, the first official sixth ranger (and yes, X-1 Mask can move aside in favor of Burai), and new ways of storytelling. The late Noboru Sugimura took the mantle left by Soda after Fiveman. Sugimura was with Metal Hero for some time so it's only natural he burned out during Ohranger.
Winspector's success brought in Solbrain. Solbrain was hinted at the end of Winspector when Captain Masaki wanted to create a new organization. The purpose was to save the minds and hearts of people. The show tried to start fresh with new heroes though Ryoma returned as a "sixth ranger" midseason to help every now and then. The show would later add a recurring, overarching villain midseason in the form of Takaoka. Takaoka himself would be the ultimate troll of the series. Heck, I feel like Takaoka was better executed than Abrella ever was in Dekaranger!
While Solbrain was indeed the sequel of Winspector - one can consider that Toei was probably trying to revive Kamen Rider from its hiatus for the nth time. Somehow, the Showa era Riders were a problematic era with a hiatus in between several shows. After Kamen Rider Stronger, it took four years for Kamen Rider Skyrider to show up. After Super-1, it took six years before Kamen Rider Black was an attempted reboot. Kamen Rider ZX never became a TV series for a reason fans may never know. Kamen Rider Black RX (as a sequel to Kamen Rider Black) did try new concepts but it didn't work during the late 80s and no new Kamen Rider was ever conceived as a result. After Kamen Rider Shin - there was Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J which were all but movies. No new series as produced. I guess the Kamen Rider vibes were not yet ready to return.
Exceedraft can be considered to be very ambitious. Somehow, I can't stop but uttering the lines, "Gotta make it a lightspeed rescue!" with how the show goes. The turbo boots which allow them to defy normal speed make it lightspeed indeed. Though, GoGoFive and Lightspeed Rescue could've easily solved most of their problems in lightspeed. The show itself had some ambitious midseason changes such as the arrival of Exceedraft's greatest villain is the Prince of Darkness himself.
1993
1993 would probably be a turning point for that year. Toei was probably too ambitious for its own good. Zyuranger already did good to a certain extent. Now, Dairanger and Janperson would probably be a step forward. Personally, I just felt like calling Winspector up to Janperson as the Rescue Police Heroes. The year 1993 was going to be a breaking point for several reasons.
Dairanger was about to take mecha designs and storytelling to a whole new level. Innovation is not just introducing new stuff but also making sure they're well-implemented. Dairanger had some good story arcs assisted by Inoue, Kunio Fuji, and Naruhisa Arakawa. I also am a huge fan of the Ah My Goddess storyline of Daigo and Kujaku. It was fun to see Masako Morishita return to play as Kujaku after her impressive performance as Kirika in Turboranger. The storyline was sort of puzzling but gets a charm once you get the hang of it. For me, the best of Sugimura's works ever.
Janperson is also an overly ambitious series. The series obviously kept the Robocop spirit minus the human factor. Unlike Robocop, Janperson has no human past since he's a full android. However, design-wise, Janperson is obviously based on Robocop. Janperson had three main villain factions to fight against in a somewhat dystopian Japan. The villains do have references to Terminator too. One can also think of Tatewaki as an ascended version of Boddicker from the first Robocop movie. Toei probably never liked Dick Jones anyway. There's also Atsuko Takahata's role as Reiko of the Super Science Network and Kazuoki Takahashi as George Makebe. The rival factions made an interesting turn. Like Winspector up to Exceedraft - the show focused more on police and rescue drama and didn't have monsters of the week. Janperson just happens to be my favorite Metal Hero season for not feeling too much like a kiddie show.
Also, Toei was already aiming for the international market. They already did it in part when World Events Productions got the license to use Golion and Dairugger XV for the overrated Voltron series. Rather than just stop there - the deal with Saban Entertainment finally kicked in. Toei somehow just didn't quit. Finally, with Margaret Loesch and Haim Saban - Toei reached the American market when Super Sentai was localized into Power Rangers for the American audience. I may dislike Power Rangers but I'd acknowledge that Toei was behind it too. 1993 was also the year when Saban signed its agreement with Toei. Both parties took advantage of Jurassic Park during that year. The greed did hit both sides too.
1994
Kakuranger is probably yet another ambitious show. While the ninja designs seem "too plain" but the concept isn't. It would be the first Super Sentai that would use Japanese motifs as the central focus of the show. Personally, I find the whole use of cartoony graphics with "SWOOSH!" at times to be rather a blatant tribute to Adam West's Batman. The show also tried to put mainstream actor Kenichi Endo who probably left the show for personal reasons.
I haven't seen Blue SWAT yet so I can't really comment on how ambitious this show is. Though seeing clips and reading the concept - it seems to be a forerunner towards Dekaranger. However, it decided to return back to having monsters of the week to get rid of, unlike Winspector up to Janperson.
1995
Ohranger was said to be aimed to become Toei's darkest Super Sentai series. I'd believe that due to the earlier episodes. However, Real Life Writes Plot AND the series had to tone down. The Sarin Gas incident had to be one of the worst attacks known to humanity. The show's intent to be darker and edgier got thrown back and forth with Lighter and Softer. Some episodes are just plain stupid such as making humans fall for machines while others explored how the Baranaoians contradict themselves. Empress Hysteria herself happens to be the epitome of that contradiction as the show progresses. The show had low ratings but the ambitious mecha somehow made up for it.
B-Fighter happens to be a rather ambitious series. I've seen only a few episodes but I can see why it puts Beetleborgs to shame. Beetleborgs is too kiddified - a problem that would later hit the last two installments of the Metal Hero series. B-Fighter itself has lots of really interesting fight scenes and brings back some references to other series. The show did have an unfortunate injury where they had to change Reddle midseason. Were the stunts too dangerous too?
1996
Ohranger's backlash was followed by yet another low run. Carranger's ratings only went by a few decimal points. But nobody can discount how ambitious the show was with the mecha design. The mecha had a more Turbo feel than Turboranger itself. Okay, I may be more of a Turboranger fan (and I still count it highly ambitious) but nobody can deny that Carranger has more Turbo than Turboranger in the mecha department. They don't randomly introduce a flying mecha in a car show. The show's better car mecha really can be commended. I think the show is vindicated by history eventually but may not be as well-appreciated as Turboranger. I think the plan to create a parody Super Sentai was ambitious but didn't do much to improve ratings.
B-Fighter Kabuto came next as a sequel to B-Fighter with a new bunch of heroes. I haven't seen much of it but I heard it's not as good as its predecessor. Eventually, the next year would lead to Kabutack which was just the second to the last step to finally ending the Metal Hero title. However, it seems that Kamen Rider Kabuto would be a tribute to both B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto.
1997
The digital age was still as its infancy yet Megaranger itself brought it upward. It was still the 1990s and they were using bulky monitors, old-fashioned Internet, floppy disks (and yes, I hate those gadgets) but not the Megarangers. These guys really knew what they were doing when they decided to give the Megarangers digital technology that defied the 90s. The Megarangers had more advanced Internet connection than what was available for people during the 90s. Now, only if Megaranger's concept will be revisited and evolved by Toei since we're now truly in the digital age.
Meanwhile, no one can deny that Toei's ambition to make a Metal Hero that's more kiddie was really weird. Kabutack was the second to the last Metal Hero show. In 1998, Robotack finally showed the demise of Metal Hero. However, Metal Hero concepts still live on with Kamen Rider.
1998
Gingaman is another show I'd say is highly ambitious. It's also Yasuko Kobayashi's first successful entrance as a head writer. I could say that while I do prefer Timeranger over it - Gingaman is where she started her head writing career! The show itself was pretty much innovative with almost everything from designs to mecha. Although the show does feel weird due to mixing the nature theme with Ginga yet it's still highly ambitious. There may be people who still prefer Lost Galaxy over this show but no one can deny Gingaman is still a hit!
1999
GoGoFive would be the last 1990s show. I'd say this show is extremely ambitious to merge Fiveman's concept with the Rescue Police series. The show has the Tatsumi siblings piloting mecha beyond its time. The special effects tried to defy the limits of the 1990s as it closed to make room for the 2000s. I could see the show tried to mix realism and fantasy to such a great extent. I admit, the show probably gets way too much appreciation. Fiveman didn't kickstart the 90s that well while GoGoFive took its concepts to a whole new level. Either way, this probably has to be the most ambitious 90s show with just about everything! So ambitious that maybe Timeranger got overshadowed too. I just feel like GoGoFive probably still has a growing fanbase for a rather old show!
1990
The 1990s started with new ideas. Fiveman though it does have a problem with the toy sales and nearly ended Super Sentai - it was eventually vindicated by history. The 1990s started with Fiveman and Winspector and ended with GoGoFive. Although Fiveman was really a downer due to Hirohisa Soda's burnout - Winspector was a pretty much ambitious direction for the Metal Hero franchise.
How is Winspector ambitious? If one would actually take time to watch GoGoFive and Winspector - one may find the latter's storytelling to be more mature. Winspector tried to explore a more human side of henshin heroes. Rather than have the typical, "Okay, we've got all the powers to save the day!" - the heroes are more like your average rescue heroes. The protagonist Ryoma can only be Fire for six minutes? Walter and Bikel aren't really superpowered either. The show itself tries to mix everyday rescue missions with science fiction and the supernatural. The concept worked like a charm that it spawned both Solbrain (1991) and Exceedraft (1992) as similar shows. Solbrain was a direct sequel while Exceedraft was nearly intended to be its own continuity.
1991
The bad performance of Fiveman didn't stop Toei. I heard Jetman was supposed to be the last Super Sentai but its success led Toei to continue the franchise. It doesn't seem to be it granted with all the effort put into Jetman. Jetman ended up causing Super Sentai to rise up like a phoenix! It made up for Fiveman's shortcomings with better toys. Fiveman though it had good acting and a new concept did have problems with Soda's burning out. Toshiki Inoue would later be a head writer for Kamen Rider and be an important Super Sentai secondary writer.
1992
Zyuranger itself would be an ultimate breakthrough during the 90s. More ambitious designs were on the way from the suits to the weapons and to the mecha. Although the show does get some flak for being too child-focused - I guess that's the charm at times. The show itself may have increased toy sales with better-looking animal mecha than what Liveman could offer. One could consider the badass design, the first official sixth ranger (and yes, X-1 Mask can move aside in favor of Burai), and new ways of storytelling. The late Noboru Sugimura took the mantle left by Soda after Fiveman. Sugimura was with Metal Hero for some time so it's only natural he burned out during Ohranger.
Winspector's success brought in Solbrain. Solbrain was hinted at the end of Winspector when Captain Masaki wanted to create a new organization. The purpose was to save the minds and hearts of people. The show tried to start fresh with new heroes though Ryoma returned as a "sixth ranger" midseason to help every now and then. The show would later add a recurring, overarching villain midseason in the form of Takaoka. Takaoka himself would be the ultimate troll of the series. Heck, I feel like Takaoka was better executed than Abrella ever was in Dekaranger!
While Solbrain was indeed the sequel of Winspector - one can consider that Toei was probably trying to revive Kamen Rider from its hiatus for the nth time. Somehow, the Showa era Riders were a problematic era with a hiatus in between several shows. After Kamen Rider Stronger, it took four years for Kamen Rider Skyrider to show up. After Super-1, it took six years before Kamen Rider Black was an attempted reboot. Kamen Rider ZX never became a TV series for a reason fans may never know. Kamen Rider Black RX (as a sequel to Kamen Rider Black) did try new concepts but it didn't work during the late 80s and no new Kamen Rider was ever conceived as a result. After Kamen Rider Shin - there was Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J which were all but movies. No new series as produced. I guess the Kamen Rider vibes were not yet ready to return.
Exceedraft can be considered to be very ambitious. Somehow, I can't stop but uttering the lines, "Gotta make it a lightspeed rescue!" with how the show goes. The turbo boots which allow them to defy normal speed make it lightspeed indeed. Though, GoGoFive and Lightspeed Rescue could've easily solved most of their problems in lightspeed. The show itself had some ambitious midseason changes such as the arrival of Exceedraft's greatest villain is the Prince of Darkness himself.
1993
1993 would probably be a turning point for that year. Toei was probably too ambitious for its own good. Zyuranger already did good to a certain extent. Now, Dairanger and Janperson would probably be a step forward. Personally, I just felt like calling Winspector up to Janperson as the Rescue Police Heroes. The year 1993 was going to be a breaking point for several reasons.
Dairanger was about to take mecha designs and storytelling to a whole new level. Innovation is not just introducing new stuff but also making sure they're well-implemented. Dairanger had some good story arcs assisted by Inoue, Kunio Fuji, and Naruhisa Arakawa. I also am a huge fan of the Ah My Goddess storyline of Daigo and Kujaku. It was fun to see Masako Morishita return to play as Kujaku after her impressive performance as Kirika in Turboranger. The storyline was sort of puzzling but gets a charm once you get the hang of it. For me, the best of Sugimura's works ever.
Janperson is also an overly ambitious series. The series obviously kept the Robocop spirit minus the human factor. Unlike Robocop, Janperson has no human past since he's a full android. However, design-wise, Janperson is obviously based on Robocop. Janperson had three main villain factions to fight against in a somewhat dystopian Japan. The villains do have references to Terminator too. One can also think of Tatewaki as an ascended version of Boddicker from the first Robocop movie. Toei probably never liked Dick Jones anyway. There's also Atsuko Takahata's role as Reiko of the Super Science Network and Kazuoki Takahashi as George Makebe. The rival factions made an interesting turn. Like Winspector up to Exceedraft - the show focused more on police and rescue drama and didn't have monsters of the week. Janperson just happens to be my favorite Metal Hero season for not feeling too much like a kiddie show.
Also, Toei was already aiming for the international market. They already did it in part when World Events Productions got the license to use Golion and Dairugger XV for the overrated Voltron series. Rather than just stop there - the deal with Saban Entertainment finally kicked in. Toei somehow just didn't quit. Finally, with Margaret Loesch and Haim Saban - Toei reached the American market when Super Sentai was localized into Power Rangers for the American audience. I may dislike Power Rangers but I'd acknowledge that Toei was behind it too. 1993 was also the year when Saban signed its agreement with Toei. Both parties took advantage of Jurassic Park during that year. The greed did hit both sides too.
1994
Kakuranger is probably yet another ambitious show. While the ninja designs seem "too plain" but the concept isn't. It would be the first Super Sentai that would use Japanese motifs as the central focus of the show. Personally, I find the whole use of cartoony graphics with "SWOOSH!" at times to be rather a blatant tribute to Adam West's Batman. The show also tried to put mainstream actor Kenichi Endo who probably left the show for personal reasons.
I haven't seen Blue SWAT yet so I can't really comment on how ambitious this show is. Though seeing clips and reading the concept - it seems to be a forerunner towards Dekaranger. However, it decided to return back to having monsters of the week to get rid of, unlike Winspector up to Janperson.
1995
Ohranger was said to be aimed to become Toei's darkest Super Sentai series. I'd believe that due to the earlier episodes. However, Real Life Writes Plot AND the series had to tone down. The Sarin Gas incident had to be one of the worst attacks known to humanity. The show's intent to be darker and edgier got thrown back and forth with Lighter and Softer. Some episodes are just plain stupid such as making humans fall for machines while others explored how the Baranaoians contradict themselves. Empress Hysteria herself happens to be the epitome of that contradiction as the show progresses. The show had low ratings but the ambitious mecha somehow made up for it.
B-Fighter happens to be a rather ambitious series. I've seen only a few episodes but I can see why it puts Beetleborgs to shame. Beetleborgs is too kiddified - a problem that would later hit the last two installments of the Metal Hero series. B-Fighter itself has lots of really interesting fight scenes and brings back some references to other series. The show did have an unfortunate injury where they had to change Reddle midseason. Were the stunts too dangerous too?
1996
Ohranger's backlash was followed by yet another low run. Carranger's ratings only went by a few decimal points. But nobody can discount how ambitious the show was with the mecha design. The mecha had a more Turbo feel than Turboranger itself. Okay, I may be more of a Turboranger fan (and I still count it highly ambitious) but nobody can deny that Carranger has more Turbo than Turboranger in the mecha department. They don't randomly introduce a flying mecha in a car show. The show's better car mecha really can be commended. I think the show is vindicated by history eventually but may not be as well-appreciated as Turboranger. I think the plan to create a parody Super Sentai was ambitious but didn't do much to improve ratings.
B-Fighter Kabuto came next as a sequel to B-Fighter with a new bunch of heroes. I haven't seen much of it but I heard it's not as good as its predecessor. Eventually, the next year would lead to Kabutack which was just the second to the last step to finally ending the Metal Hero title. However, it seems that Kamen Rider Kabuto would be a tribute to both B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto.
1997
The digital age was still as its infancy yet Megaranger itself brought it upward. It was still the 1990s and they were using bulky monitors, old-fashioned Internet, floppy disks (and yes, I hate those gadgets) but not the Megarangers. These guys really knew what they were doing when they decided to give the Megarangers digital technology that defied the 90s. The Megarangers had more advanced Internet connection than what was available for people during the 90s. Now, only if Megaranger's concept will be revisited and evolved by Toei since we're now truly in the digital age.
Meanwhile, no one can deny that Toei's ambition to make a Metal Hero that's more kiddie was really weird. Kabutack was the second to the last Metal Hero show. In 1998, Robotack finally showed the demise of Metal Hero. However, Metal Hero concepts still live on with Kamen Rider.
1998
Gingaman is another show I'd say is highly ambitious. It's also Yasuko Kobayashi's first successful entrance as a head writer. I could say that while I do prefer Timeranger over it - Gingaman is where she started her head writing career! The show itself was pretty much innovative with almost everything from designs to mecha. Although the show does feel weird due to mixing the nature theme with Ginga yet it's still highly ambitious. There may be people who still prefer Lost Galaxy over this show but no one can deny Gingaman is still a hit!
1999
GoGoFive would be the last 1990s show. I'd say this show is extremely ambitious to merge Fiveman's concept with the Rescue Police series. The show has the Tatsumi siblings piloting mecha beyond its time. The special effects tried to defy the limits of the 1990s as it closed to make room for the 2000s. I could see the show tried to mix realism and fantasy to such a great extent. I admit, the show probably gets way too much appreciation. Fiveman didn't kickstart the 90s that well while GoGoFive took its concepts to a whole new level. Either way, this probably has to be the most ambitious 90s show with just about everything! So ambitious that maybe Timeranger got overshadowed too. I just feel like GoGoFive probably still has a growing fanbase for a rather old show!
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