Fiveman's DVD Release: Vindicated By History Or Still Destined To Be OVERSHADOWED?

"One, two, three, four, five - FIVEMAN!" the very series that NEARLY killed Super Sentai is getting an official English subtitle release. I personally didn't see this coming because of a couple of past Super Sentai DVD releases most of them are better than what Chikyu Sentai Fiveman has to offer. My personal take has always been Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive will always be MILES BETTER than Fiveman ever will be in the sibling Super Sentai arena. The 1990s began with two shows where one was a smash hit and the other nearly killed a franchise. Combine both shows and you get GoGoFive. 

I guess Fiveman has been vindicated by history to a certain extent. I may not like it as much as I used to BUT it has likable characters. The ranger cast is rather strong. I feel like Ken Hoshikawa became a template for Chad Lee in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue - both are athletic badasses that fought off a monster-of-the-week whilst unmorphed. Though, I felt Chad's episode could've copied from Ken's episode a little more. Chad's been more than qualified to teach a bunch of children the value of perseverance. Remi Hoshikawa may be the youngest BUT she really kicks ass with her kung fu. Kasumi Hoshikawa will pretty much cure you of math phobia with her personality. Fumiya Hoshikawa, though reckless, develops as a character. Gaku Hoshikawa is probably still the better Gaku over Gaku Washio. Gaoranger!Gaku's tough as nails but Fiveman!Gaku is tougher than nails. Granted, Hyajakuu Sentai Gaoranger was the beginning of the franchise' move towards a much less violent approach. 

Though, after rewatching both GoGoFive and Fiveman - I felt the cast of the former has had some weaknesses too. I think Fiveman!Gaku calm personality is more welcome than Matoi Tatsumi's drill sergeant nasty. I don't blame it if some people actually felt Carter Grayson was the better character. Carter's actually your typical calm hero - something pretty much like the main leads of the Rescue Police Trilogy. Maybe, compare Carter to Hayato Kano in Tokosou Exceedraft as a calm, determined character. Nagare Tatsumi isn't much of a fighter probably due to his status as a genius. Think of why characters like Billy Cranston of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Renn Koyama of Engine Sentai Go-Onger (I guess I hate it now after watching Gekisou Sentai Carranger), and Ryunosuke Ikenami of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (who I love to compare to Billy) are portrayed to be weaker characters. I felt Daimon Tatsumi's overly reckless in contrast to Remi. No show is without its weaknesses, right? 

I think Fiveman can be viewed as an important experiment. I guess Toei Ltd. had no idea (yet) how to deal with siblings. Not that I'd actually praise Maho Sentai Magiranger because I think it's a topsy-turvy mess - sorry fans! Fiveman had Hirohisa Soda at its lowest and the decline began with Kosoku Sentai Turboranger. I heard that Chevalier's addition into the show boosted ratings like the Nagare Boma did in Turboranger. If I'm not wrong, Kihachiro Uemura's name was credited in the final episode even after his character died in the second to the last episode. I guess Kihachiro's still popular as both Dai of Choshinsei Flashman and Chevalier. It did have its moments such as how Garoa becomes a buffoon (Tony Lechon ahem Takeshi Ishikawa does a good job though) later in the series. I think the whole way the finale arc was handled meant Soda was out of ideas. Still, we know how we learn from our mistakes, right?

Though, I think Shout! Factory should schedule a release of Winspector too. The reason is because it seemed like both Fiveman and Winspector are why GoGoFive even existed. I felt if the two shows didn't exist in the 1990s - GoGoFive wouldn't exist. Though, I guess that even with the vindicated, it's not going to get as much appreciation either.