Remembering The Noboru Sugimura Era In Super Sentai

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 Super Sentai, and was focused on Kamen Rider's revival. Inoue was a secondary writer for Kamen Rider Kuuga. Inoue would later be the head writer of Kamen Rider Faiz (all written by him) and met his downfall with Kamen Rider Kiva (though I'm a fan of the said series). What's more interesting to know is that Sugimura's era of Super Sentai had most of its seasons as the Japanese source material for the Zordon era of Power Rangers. 

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger

Granted, Sugimura started with Metal Hero, and not Super Sentai means that a struggle is there. Okay, Winspector and Solbrain are team-related shows but still, Super Sentai operates rather differently. Jiban was the start and it was a show that had the kid of the week. then Winspector and Solbrain kicked in and those shows are more mature than Super Sentai ever can get. Exceedraft was also shown this year and was assigned to Miyashita instead. GoGoFive is a good series but I end up thinking Winspector rewatches have been more entertaining for me. Why Inoue wasn't given Zyuranger as headwriting task even after Jetman caused Super Sentai to rise like a phoenix is beyond me. I even wished Inoue handled the Burai episodes because of the fact that he wrote the X-1 Mask episode in Maskman. X-1 Mask was a prototype for both Gai Yuki and Burai.

Zyuranger started a new revolution though not without underappreciation here and there. Consider the fact last year's Jetman was a surefire hit. Zyuranger? I don't think it easily clicked that well with longtime fans like it did with children. More often than not - I still think about the show's tendency to have a child of the week outshine the heroes. Sugimura's love for children really kicked into Zyuranger a lot. Zyuranger itself can also have some weird stuff like why would Daizyujin give permission to the rangers to control his body? Also, I felt much of Bandora's schemes in Zyuranger were pretty similar to Professor K in Machineman. Both villains were focused on their hatred for children than anything else.

What was amazing to know was that Zyuranger was just a year before Jurassic Park hit in 1993. 1993 came and eventually, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers took advantage of the Jurassic Park craze. I heard that Zyuranger was once again attempted to be aired as is but again, you know differences between the US and Japan, right? It was underappreciated for reasons such as the language barrier and last year's Super Sentai was a better hit. It took some time before Zyuranger was actually given recognition as the first licensed DVD so I guess it's overappreciated now. Other than that, it's not really solid gold and my preferences for it change a lot. In my case, Zyuranger is overshadowed in my head due to other Super Sentai series before and after it. I don't want to say all Super Sentai is equal either. 

Gosei Sentai Dairanger

Zyuranger for me was a bit of a stepdown in writing. Dairanger, well, it did have some important contributors with Naruhisa Arakawa (three idiots), Inoue (Jin Arc), and Kunio Fuji (Ah My Goddess Kujaku arc). The series would take Maskman's concept and beef it up. It would be important to know is that this series might be given more recognition than it deserves. For me, a lot of stuff ended up becoming "leave it to the viewers" to decide at the end of the series. Like Jetman, I think this show also overshadows Zyuranger. Maybe, some people sold over their Zyuranger DVDs for Dairanger DVDs, huh?

While Zyuranger had a problem with the kid of the week but no, not Dairanger. Dairanger has a rather weird story that takes getting used to and when you get into it - it becomes addictive. The story mixes the mythological characters with the powers of martial arts. Yup. Maskman was the template and Dairanger ends up taking it to a whole new level. Then you've got Gekiranger coming in last 2007 which would be 14 years after this series. The show would feature heroes who descended from the Dai Tribes and practices different forms of martial arts. Did Zyuranger's backstory of heroes from the stone age raise eyebrows too much? Maybe, maybe not but I'd actually guess it did. However, Dairanger also brought in what I'd call a rather weird move namely Kou as the first child ranger. However, Kou was still better executed than Justin since he was given a real plot to why he's there. 

Dairanger was also focused on Chinese-themed mythologies. The concept of good vs. evil is taken to a level of balance between positive energy and negative energy. It's a continuous struggle and the balance is needed. Yup, that's when Daijinryu (Great Dragon God) appears and literally shakes things up. The Daos and Gorma have been at war for centuries and it's an inevitable cycle that repeats itself all over again.

For me, it's the best of Sugimura as a head writer. Though we've got Arakawa, Inoue, and Fuji to thank for the other excellent story arcs which had gaps in between before they progressed for a reason.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger

Kakuranger for me is one weird show. Not that I'm minding having a female actual leader though. However, I do find it weird to have the red ranger act as the field leader yet someone else is the leader outside the battle - something that was done also in Megaranger (Kouichiro was the actual leader), Timeranger (Yuuri was the actual leader), and Gekiranger (Ran was the actual leader). The show also introduced some Adam West (RIP)-style comic effects with the 1960s Batman series. The words "POW!" and "Zoom" were seen in many combat style effects.

If Dairanger was a window to Chinese culture and mythologies then Kakuranger is for Japan. While Japanese mythological creatures were spread throughout Super Sentai - it was Kakuranger that focused on them. Some of them even took modern-day forms. The Kakurangers were fighting off the Youkai in their modern-day return. The show also had two major story arcs namely the Prince Junior Arc and the Daimaou (Great Demon King) arc. I felt the transition between the two major arcs didn't do so well. Why Prince Junior was suddenly written off might be due to Kenichi Endo's request to leave the show. Fortunately, the first major arc ended with a good bang. 

So how does it stand as a ninja show for me? Call me crazy but I'd probably still pick Hurricanger over this show. Sure, Kakuranger has better fight choreography but I think Hurricanger in all its weaknesses was better. I still find the whole "Yousuke hate" baffling since he's my favorite Hurricanger. In Kakuranger, my favorite is Sasuke. Though I'd treat Kakuranger as an important stepping stone for later series. 

Choriki Sentai Ohranger

After deciding to re-check the show WITHOUT thinking about Power Rangers Zeo - I'm seeing this show to be a weird mess where I can't truly make up my mind about it. This would be the final installment for Sugimura and like other burnouts - it doesn't go well. In this case, a lot of real-life circumstances happened leading to it becoming a mess. It was a show with huge ambition as evidenced in the first seven episodes. The show wanted to be dead serious about the science theme but it ended up crashing. What's worse is that Ohranger and Carranger ran with rather low ratings from 4.4% to 4.8%. Fortunately, both shows are vindicated by history but won't reach any high levels of praise as other Super Sentai seasons.

The show featured the UAOH Military using ancient technology to develop new mecha. The civilization of Pangaea hid the secrets that modern science has forgotten. The story of Ohranger sort of copies the Bio Alliance vs. Anti-Bio Alliance War. The war between the ancient civilization of Pangaea and Baranoia waged on until nobody was the winner. Fortunately, the conflict didn't cause Earth to blow up like the Planet Bio. Though one can't deny that they both seem to be like the Bio Alliance vs. Anti-Bio Alliance. The Baranoia family is also a walking contradiction - they despise human love while they started developing it themselves. Later, Bomber the Great would arrive to be similar to Silver in Bioman but nowhere as cool.

The show itself was crushed by two circumstances. One was the Hanshin earthquake and the other was the Sarin gas incident. Consider the show wanted to be serious but ended up having rather stupid episodes later on. Sure, it was nice not to have Bulk and Skull fight over a motorcycle but that episode of humans falling in love with appliances can't be denied to be VERY STUPID. That episode felt like it could've worked in Carranger but not in a team where everyone's harder than nails. Hirohisa Soda wrote a few episodes after his burnout in Fiveman. Soda would also write a few Carranger episodes and the crossover movie. The show was in a huge emotional mood swing one way or another. Better watch Changeman IMHO!

Also, Ohranger can be remembered for actually starting the yearly crossover. Goranger and JAKQ had a crossover movie once but the idea was shelved for many seasons later. Ohranger vs. Kakuranger was a fun non-canon movie (and the events obviously can't fit in either which show and many soon will follow). I guess Ohranger's been vindicated by history as the DVD sales still continued after this show.