Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

That 70s Show, ALRIGHT!  I'm really feeling old as I feel the effects of the Space-Time Alpha Sword on me . I still find it weird that I had a love interest who looks like Mika Katsumura -- she's married to someone else now. It wasn't meant to be. I tried watching Battle Fever J then I took the challenge of watching Himitsu Sentai Goranger and Dengekitai JAKQ . Some people called me a baby back then for watching  Power Rangers in the 1990s -- that was all before I dropped the franchise out of PERSONAL REASONS . Officially, I've finally watched the whole 1970s era of Super Sentai . This was what might be the "simpler era" or figuring things out era. My late 30s self has an easier time watching older Super Sentai than newer ones -- even when I can still enjoy newer ones. But as said, it's not about older fans and rose-tinted glasses but on mostly younger fans! It can't be denied that before Super Sentai -- there was Tatsunuko's Science Ninja Team Gat...

Here's a bit of a Thursday throwback. As much as I tend to prefer most of the classic Super Sentai over the newer ones  (while ironically choosing most new school Kamen Rider over old school Kamen Rider), it doesn't mean that I would just choose the classic Super Sentai all the time. It's like how I prefer Hurricanger over Kakuranger and Abaranger over Zyuranger. I decided to watch both Kyoryuger and Battle Fever J and I would really talk about some issues that I have with some super old shows. Take note I saw Kyoryuger first before Battle Fever J. Battle Fever J was pretty much the start of the revival of Super Sentai. In fact, it's the first series to get the word "Super" into Super Sentai. Goranger may be the first Super Sentai series but it was only declared the first entry years later. The show itself was what I'd call pretty basic stuff. Sure you have badass mentor Kurama Tetsuzan's use of his katana or some really cool fight scenes but I thou...

Considering it's 2016 and Battle Fever J was aired on February 3, 1979 - it's a good thing to see older Super Sentai series getting digitally remastered or I wouldn't watch it. It's a pretty weird show, I don't like the costume designs but it's a pretty fun show at the same time. These guys knew how to create a dancing Super Sentai without being overly hyped. I know it's the late 70s but old doesn't always mean bad or good. It all depends on the production team involved that makes a Super Sentai series good or bad. Watching the show was like learning about the history of even older telephones, learning how older TV sets, older video game systems and so on. In my case, it's just like how I ended up playing classic NES and Super NES games that I haven't played on later video game systems. The digital age really does wonders in reviving the classic cool to a whole new level. This reminds me of how it was to play the first three Megaman X games on...

In the earlier Super Sentai series, there were replacement rangers and their predecessors. Here they are: In Goranger, we had two Ki Rangers. Daita Oowa was the first and Daigorou Kumano was the second. Daigorou Kumano served as a temporary Ki Ranger because the actor Baku Hatakayema (who committed suicide on July 13, 1978) was acting in a play so they got a temporary replacement that would be killed off as soon as Baku Hatakeyama returned. Battle Fever J had two Battle Cossacks. They were Kensaku Shiraishi and Jin Makoto. From what I heard, the actor Yukio Itou got married so his character Kensaku Shiraishi got killed off from the script. Jin Makoto is introduced as a badass cowboy replacement. There were two Miss Americas in Battle Fever J. Unlike Kensaku Shiraishi, the first one named Diane Martin (strangely her actress is also named Diane Martin a half-Japanese, half-American actress), she wasn't killed off. Instead she was mortally wounded to the point she couldn...

I can't help but think there are some "Power Rangers References" in the 30 Sentai Encyclopedia done in a subtle way as there are "Super Sentai" references in Power Rangers. They are: When Battle Fever J was featured, flags of different countries were featured. Inou Masumi carries the Kenyan flag, apparently that's where Zack Taylor the first black ranger of MMPR came from. Battle Kenya was also a black ranger. Go figure. On the other hand Sakura Nishihori's holding of America may give tribute to Kimberly Hart. The Boukenger members mimic the Zyuranger pose also giving tribute to MMPR with Natsuki Mamiya probably paying tribute to Trini Kwan (whose character died as the actress Thuy Trang died by the Bio Killer Gun ahem car accident). I think out of subtle reference, I think Eiji Takaoka starts to look like Andros in Power Rangers in Space. Not really but again with Natsuki Mamiya, I think about how Time Force has two girls instead of one- a referenc...

Aside from rangers, I think Super Sentai had its own share of badass commanders too. My picks are in no particular order: General Kurama Tetsuzan of Battle Fever J is a master of Japanese swordsmanship. Commander Ibuki of Changeman- He was the toughest commander in the 80s with his tough training methods to reveal the power of Earth Force. I liked him in his action oriented attacks and how he's really Yui from Heath Star. In a sense I'll make him a "sixth member". Sanjoru Sugata of the Maskman team is more than just a scientist, he's the one who trained them one on one. Aya Odagiri of the Jetman team is NOT your everyday woman. She shows her own fighting skills and was able to pilot Jet Garuda and defeat her own monster. She may remind Gatchaman fans of the late Sylvie Pandora who was at times the Gatcha Team's commander. Master Kaku of the Dairangers was an expert in all dangerous Chinese martial arts. He was able to handle all the Dai powers himself ...

The theme of the first super robot sentai was this "Different nations, one force." The concept was kind of something like red was Japan (the red sun), France was blue (a common color for the french), Cossack was a darker shade of yellow (the color of the hammer-sickle), Kenya was black (African-black people get it?) and Miss America was pink. However they were all Japanese as far as we're concerned. The fact is hypothetically Haim Saban decided to go multi-racial rather than focus on just Americans in doing Power Rangers which he was said to have wanted to start with Turboranger and later Jetman. Maybe he was a big fan of Battle Fever J before he decided to adapt Super Sentai for the American audience. If I'm not wrong he actually did dub Turboranger for the U.S. market but found he needed to "adapt" and so did Toei to penetrate the American market. The downside of Super Sentai was this: it was very hard to build a multi-racial team due to language barri...