Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Sometimes, fiction translates into reality, right? While some things in fiction will never be real but there's always some weird stuff. The Simpsons did somehow predict the rise of Donald Trump. I also felt Metalder in 1987 warned of the greedy oligarchy seeking to control the economy. Hmm... did Metalder also warn of the rise of Donald Trump in the person of Emperor Neros? Bioman did have one episode that may have warned about the rise of the welfare state and handouts. In 1989, Jiban did have a money-making Bionoid that let it rain money in the form of yen bills. The episode has Shingo investigate the rumors of gold coins falling in the Kagiyama district in Japan. Then the worst fears are confirmed. The city has become a vice city in the process. People want their gold coins and they will get it. Monster disguised as the "Golden Boss" tells them where the shower of gold coins will fall next. Well, doesn't that remind you of days when certain governments te...

Bizarre coincidences or not? I remembered writing a post where I compared the COVID-19 to the Legacy Virus in X-Men . Screenrant also has a post where it compares the COVID-19 to the Legacy Virus . Then I decided to do some random viewing and didn't realize that Dynaman somewhat predicted the rise of the deadly pandemic. The episode features Prince Megiddo stupidly releasing Mammoth Evolution into the population. Well, what do you expect from villains who are pretty much For The Evulz, right? In Megiddo's case - he wants to use the monster to destroy the Dynamen and do a noble deed. Not that his father is so "great' either. It may be Emperor Aton's fault for having such a stupid son who'd eventually return to get rid of him. The plot also had the Mammoth Evolution beast break into a virology laboratory in Japan. I dunno did that part of Japan have Japanese eat wild meat or what? The unknown virus latches itself into Mammoth Evolution and the virus ...

Another important era to remember in the history of Super Sentai is the Sugimura era. The late Noboru Sugimura didn't start off with Super Sentai. For me, the shows where he's the head writer can be a mixed bag of preferences - at least for me! It's known how I ended up not liking Jiban because of my extreme favoritism for Janperson. It's no secret that I'm a fan of Winspector and Solbrain. After him, there was Junichi Miyashita who was the head writer for Exceedraft, Janperson, Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, B-Fighter Kabuto, and Hurricanger. Both Sugimura and Miyashita were major contributors to the classic Showa (and maybe my ONLY favorite Kamen Rider series of that time) - Kamen Rider Black! Sugimura quickly kicked in after Toshiki Inoue wrote the Super Sentai's phoenix of redemption namely Jetman. Why Inoue wasn't given another head writing job UNTIL 2001 baffles me. Inoue did write the Jin arc in Dairanger, wrote some episodes during the Sugimura era of Su...

2020 is a big time to consider some milestones and major anniversaries for Toei's Toku franchises . I could say some of these anniversaries belong to an era where I'm mixed about. It's no secret that I usually prefer newer Kamen Rider and older Super Sentai even when I check opposites. Right now, I could think about how one man launched a franchise forward but was overworked that it went backward. 2020 would celebrate Fiveman's 30 anniversary - a show that may get people divided, I have shifting preferences with it due to GoGoFive, all the while I could say that Fiveman was an important experiment that GoGoFive couldn't do without. Granted, I think I do have a bit more head-knowledge now than what I had back then. Granted, I've already seen from start to end almost everything in Soda's era. I'd say I've watched Goggle V, Dynaman, Bioman, Changeman, Flashman, Maskman, Liveman, Turboranger (though the rest is raw and I don't speak Japanese), an...

Well, it's time for another Kiramager episode review. I don't know if I should start delaying the updates because I'm caught with newer stuff. Now, last week's episode had a mysterious giant robot. Now, here's another Bandai merchandise in with some very early history of the Planet Crystalia.  The episode begins with last week's battle. Why is it that only Garza and Kiramei Red can see the new giant? The heroes are forced to retreat as Kiramei Red has fainted from all that training they gave him. This also sets a question of priorities. Was the team too hard on Juuru or not? I do think about how  the team trained him that hard to the point he broke. However, this training would soon play a part in sharpening up his mind. Okay, this scene of Juuru in the clinic reminds me that the actor Rio Komiya got hospitalized after contracted the Legacy Virus. Fortunately, Komiya has been dismissed but he will have to be careful as he could be reinfected. H...

Some time ago, I remembered reading a post from Dramabeans concerning subtitles either as a barrier or gateway . I'm no speaker of Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin (and yes, it's obvious that using a nom de plume) yet I enjoy those shows even if I can't understand a word. However, I enjoy them only if they've got English subtitles and ignore them when they don't. It's stupid to say that a show is better because it's in English or in one's native language. I remembered back in the 2000s when I first saw Meteor Garden in Tagalog then there were bootleg DVDs that had the English subtitle. Lately, there's Netflix where people can watch non-English shows with subtitles. I gave a thought about it with Super Sentai and why it was underappreciated. My bigger thoughts on Super Sentai's underappreciation for some time? It's all about the language barrier as Super Sentai is a show in JAPANESE aside from cultural differences prevented it from getting dub...

Every good team needs a good leader, right? Unfortunately, Juuri being the YOUNGEST of the group has a lot to learn as this episode shows.  The newest Jamenbeast is a two-headed monster known as Renetsu Damages. The plan involves two brothers namely Oven Jamen and Ice Jamen. Hmmm... that just reminds me of Turboranger's Bouma brothers episode. However, this one doesn't have a single one who's redeemable. I'm just thinking of the 1980s cartoon Thundercats just seeing this one. Who can remember the episode where Lion-O had to beat his teammates so he can be rightfully lord of the Thundercats? Both Juuri and Lion-O are the youngest in the team yet they are the leaders of their respective teams. Trying to beat Sena in running, Shiguru in swordsmanship, Sayo in Aikido (though I'm not too impressed at this point), and Tametomo in marksmanship will not be easy. Meanwhile, sibling rivalry kicks in. Both Oven Jamen and Ice Jamen just can't get along....