Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

It's the silver anniversary of GoGoV  and I feel I haven't given the series enough appreciation. GoGoFive has one of the most evil villains to ever exist known as Grand Witch Grandienne. I purposely wrote her as Grand B*tch Grandienne because her actions are way too evil. I feel Super Sentai nightmare fuel today isn't as good . Grandienne wasn't always there but when she's there -- she's one of the most evil villains in the franchise. Grandienne's actions prove that she's one selfish, self-centered MOFO. Grandienne would even pit her own children against each other just to accomplish her goals. GoGoV had more freedom to make Grandienne as evil as she could get. Earlier scenes of Grandienne showing up (and some of these scenes were spliced into Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue ) reminded me of Meadow's apparition in Chikyu Sentai Fiveman . The difference was  Fiveman ended up writing off Meadow as merely an illusion set by Galactic Beast Vulgyre. Meanw...

  Metal Hero is a franchise that's canceled but never forgotten by Toei . Super Sentai and Kamen Rider carried over the influence. Metal Hero was discontinued like the Super Robot Anime series by Toei. Megazords sell better than the Super Robots. Metal Hero probably failed to create a unique identity. It jumped from one concept to another -- the Space Sheriff Trilogy with some clones. One could also talk about certain entries in  Metal Hero being more mature than Super Sentai . Eventually,  Robotack was in 1998 and it was the final installment. However, Toei ended up creating Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive with a lot of Metal Hero references  -- something that was repeated in Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger . Watching  GoGoFive made me think of Chikyu Sentai Fiveman most . It can be easy for me to ignore Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue but not Fiveman . Both  Fiveman and GoGoFive are family-themed. There are times I feel that the family theme overshadows the rescue theme...

  With GoGoFive's 25th anniversary - I'm writing this entry while I'm SNAILSPEEDING on Boonboomger . Maybe, I want to keep saying that the power of Lightspeed is TOO GREAT to be handled by "unremarkable civilians". This movie has some inconsistencies that wouldn't make it canon. This movie has some bizarre scenes. One can ask, "Do they even show this to kids in Japan?" Warning: This movie has some scenes of blood that can't make it past TV-Y7-FV. This movie can be terrifying even if it's supposedly aimed at children.  The introduction of non-canon villainous family members may have started here. Other non-canon crossovers gave villains a non-canon extended family like in Hurricanger vs. Gaoranger with Chuzubo's brother Chubozu, Bacchus Gill in Go-Busters vs. Gokaiger (which the latter still had their powers), and would Hizumira from Gingaman vs. Megaranger even count? This film gave us Darkness King Gill - a villain introduced as Grand Bi...

March is Fire Prevention Month in some countries. Nothing gets into my head better than Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive . This year is also GoGoFive's 25th anniversary. Sure, I usually prefer to ignore Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue since it's best to compare to  Chikyu Sentai Fiveman . I still find it amazing that the  Fiveman DVD sales were successful despite this being WAY BETTER. I'll talk about where  GoGoFive may stand among Power Rangers fans. Theoretically, anything after Mirai Sentai Timeranger is usually preferred for being Lighter and Softer. GoGoFive is anything but Lighter and Softer.  There are still some Power Rangers fans who prefer Lightspeed Rescue over GoGoFive. I might have to do something with how a sibling superhero team may not be that appealing. How often has the sibling theme been done in Super Sentai ? I think Power Rangers' charm has to do with an American team that represents multiracial unity. There are also some areas where Lightspeed Resc...

GoGoFive's nightmare fuel is in no doubt among the best in Super Sentai. GoGoFive Mission 6 is really pure nightmare fuel one way or another. Since it's Halloween then it's time for a bit of a scare post. I thought about GoGoFive's sixth episode where a deadly mold known as Triple-X (which was meant for waste disposal) ends up as a deadly agent of destruction. The episode focuses on Shou wanting to quit GoGoFive in order to fulfill his dream. He goes back to where he originally had his job but found out about the Triple-X substance. Denus plans to use the substance to increase the casualties in the human world. Once opened, it would spread like wildfire. Apparently, this mold is very much alive. It's almost like a reference to the Hollywood movie The Blob where an alien substance was causing disaster. Except Triple-X isn't an alien agent but some kind of deadly mold that was artificially created. Yet, there's the similarity in effect of a destructive goo...

GoGoFive is one show that I'd say is pretty much ahead of its time. It was 1999 and the year 2000 was approaching. It looks like Toei was throwing almost everything to end the 90s and GoGoFive had it. While it's been easy to ignore most of Lightspeed Rescue while watching GoGoFive but definitely not Winspector and Fiveman . Okay, I could be lying because I still tend to compare Lightspeed Rescue's Carter (a fireman) to Exceedraft's captain Hayato (a policeman) in terms of skill and leadership! Now, moving on to Fiveman and how I thought that it's really full of nightmare fuel. Heck, I'd call it an improved version of the nightmare fuel you may have had with Hirohisa Soda in the late 80s with Changeman, Flashman, Maskman, and Turboranger. Fiveman did have a few nightmare fuel episodes but GoGoFive beats it. What do you expect? GoGoFive deals with ghouls and ghosts and tries to be mature as possible (but as said, Rescue Police Trilogy still beats it at that). W...

Well, it's GoGoFive's 20th year for the past few months now, isn't it? So I thought I might do a bit of picking my top ten episodes for this series. It's been 20 years and I thought GoGoFive still deserves its tribute as "Doing Fiveman right." with the Tatsumi family. Now, I'd like to pick my top ten favorite episodes. The show's so badass so it's hard to rank them so be patient with all the hasty choices, okay? 10. Rescue Activity Suspended (Mission 8) This episode features about learning from one's mistakes. Lightspeed Rescue did add a bonus by trying to replace the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers with robots. Kenji Inui ( who I wish was acted by Hiroshi Miyauchi ) appears as the rival of Dr. Mondo Tatsumi. Hmmm, can you imagine if Winspector's captain met face-to-face with a Super Sentai team? I just love how this episode shows that rivals too can be best friends. I also wish Mami Yamasaki from Winspector were the secretary alongside Inui...

I remembered how I wrote about how I called GoGoFive as a product of Fiveman and Winspector . Now one can always argue that Timeranger is the end of the 20th century Heisei era Super Sentai yet GoGoFive is the end of the 90s. We can consider how it seems the 90s got planned accordingly by Toei huh? GoGoFive can be considered as a pretty innovative series yet I can't deny that I do have my shifting opinions towards it . So what's with the 90s? The 90s can be considered an era where I have a love-hate relationship with it -- those were simpler times yet who can remember some technology you're glad won't make it into the space age of Kyuranger? There are some great shows from several places before they sucked. The 90s Super Sentai can be like that and I still think the 80s to 90s Super Sentai are the best while newer generation fans can't relate to that, right? So how did Toei's Tokusatsu series open during the 90s? The Kamen Rider series was put on hiatus and t...

I remembered picking up GoGoFive and watching it then I thought about how Chikyu Sentai Fiveman nearly killed Super Sentai or how I prefer GoGoFive over Fiveman . Fiveman really just felt flat as Hirohisa Soda was already burning out. GoGoFive already had Junki Takegami working things out since Megaranger though one may argue Engine Sentai Go-Onger was a result of said writer burning out! The song "1-2-3-4-5 FIVEMAN!" was stuck in my head considering that the GoGoFive team were siblings which is why I don't really compare it much with Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue too often -- except for the very trivial differences! A family vs. family battle was a strong recurring theme of the show. You've got the Tatsumi siblings who must deal with their father's difficult choice of having "abandoned" them and only sending whatever means of support he has -- think of Voltes V where Kentaro Gou/Prince Lagour made a difficult choice to leave his Earth family behind...

The singer Shinichi Ishihara first did his Super Sentai contribution with the Turbo Rugger theme song. He was then made the lead singer for Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive's opening theme. Here's the GoGoFive opening theme's English translation: Stir up all your guts Harder as it gets Never ever give it up We're gonna save you Grandcross, chaos Come what weather We shall overcome Wind is blowing for the V (five) Help a little life Whoever needs that livin' safe Fight for the new future For infinity Rescue! Soldiers, Faster & Faster Go through the fire, Run through the danger Rescue! Soldiers, Higher & Higher Brightening heart under the sun Shining all above you Save the earth, Save the life We are the KyuKyu Sentai Go Go Rescue Five! Pluck up your courage When it's on the edge Keep a hope stay survived We're gonna rescue Major danger Come what may, just We shall overtop With the power from the V (five) Save a little life Whatever needs our aid and care...

I wonder if I should actually try to "beat Shogo B'Stard to it" by reviewing one of my favorite Super Sentai crossover films. I still think that Toei Ltd. may need to give it a break for now or two, why aren't they released on the Super Sentai DVDs? Back on topic -- I decided to give a shot about the crossover of the two Sci-Fi Revival era series  namely Mirai Sentai Timeranger and Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive. It even had me wishing too bad we never had a Chikyu Sentai Fiveman and Chojin Sentai Jetman movie for obvious reasons -- though everyone knows I still think GoGoFive is miles better than Fiveman. I thought about how this film did a good job making it look like both series came in the same universe. Granted, logic can tell you that most Super Sentai don't really take place in the same Universe  but this one well, it almost seems like it. Gokaiger did manage to try and fit in the events of Goseiger vs. Shinkenger. In here, the GoGoFive are back to their normal ...

I was thinking about GoGoFive and I thought about one character named Kenji Inui. He was a minor character with five episode appearances. He first appeared as a rival to Professor Mondo Tatsumi. After watching some Exceedraft and looking at the seemingly relaxed commander -- I thought about how badass Captain Shunsuke Masaki is and how I wish that the legendary Hiroshi Miyauchi were in GoGoFive for those five episodes! So what episodes did Kenji appear? They were Episode 8, Episode 20, Episode 37 and Episodes 49-50. The first episode he appeared in was where he appeared as the rival of Professor Tatsumi. Talk about what if Dr. Hoshikawa were rivals with Captain Masaki! He wanted to shut down GoGoFive until he saw the error of his ways. He ended up supporting GoGoFive but that wouldn't be the end of it. I even thought of more episodes where Miyauchi himself could have made an impact as a guest! Episode 20 was also involved with the Psyma Hell Siblings. He would be a good person...

It's already the month of March and for some countries (like the Philippines) -- it's Fire Prevention Month. With that in mind, I want to throw some super huge more throwbacks with 90s Toku. With that in mind, I think about GoGoFive which is the second sibling Super Sentai and the first rescue themed one. Now it's time to think of the Year 1990 and how two shows that year may have inspired the creation of one of my favorite Super Sentai series. 1990 was bit of a turning year. It was the rise of Metal Hero (which unfortunately declined in 1999 and died with Robotack's finale) to a whole new level. Fiveman may be the worst of Hirohisa Soda's seasons for many (and I still enjoy it though) --  it nearly ended Super Sentai ! Chojin Sentai Jetman ended up renewing everyone's interest in the franchise. Winspector on the other hand became a major success that it spawned a direct sequel in Solbrain and Exceedraft which was loosely tied to Winspector. Why Exceedraft i...

I remembered writing on how Winspector, Solbrain, Exceedraft and Janperson felt like " prime time shows for older audiences rather than kiddie shows ". I still can't get over how I thought Janperson is a better show than the Robocop TV series (which came after Janperson) or how it's Toei's tribute to the Robocop movie trilogy. Before that, there was also the Rescue Police teams namely Winspector, Solbrain and Exceedraft. So how are these shows making me think less of certain Super Sentai seasons that I also like as my personal favorites? So what favorite seasons of these are getting affected in some way? I would say these are GoGoFive, Timeranger and Dekaranger. I saw Dekaranger from start to end first then GoGoFive and Timeranger. Sure, I do like those seasons but watching Winspector, Solbrain, Timeranger and I'm currently watching Exceedraft's releases from Sailor Otaku. Also, I'm waiting for more of Janperson's subs since I can't wait to ...

I never thought I'd do another rant like this one given the circumstances. With GoGo-V getting its official release this April 24, 2018  then a Timeranger official release may just be around the corner. I'd like to discuss an era which Sentai Bandicoot describes as the Sci-Fi Revival Era where GoGo-V and Timeranger fall into: Succeeding Takatera for the position of Chief Producer was Metal Hero veteran Jun Hikasa, who’d go on to produce every Sentai from GoGoFive to Abaranger, as well as producing Kamen Rider Blade, Boukenger, Go-onger, first half of Goseiger, and Akibaranger. This short lived 2 year long era delves the franchise into a style where it’s elements are never quite seen as much in Sentai again. It brings back the hard sci-fi approach which was very prominent during the Soda Era. However, unlike the Soda Era, the Sci-Fi Revival Era does not focus particularly on the hero vs villain plots. Rather, these two shows focus more on continuing Takatera’s grounded appr...

One Two Three Four Five... GOGO FIVE! Since Fire Prevention Month is almost over, I decided I would write why I prefer GoGoFive over Fiveman. Theme repetition isn't necessarily bad if it wasn't overused or if the concept that explored. It's like how I think Abaranger improved the dinosaur concept, Kyoryuger may not be my favorite dinosaur Super Sentai but it did improve Battle Fever J's dancing by miles and how I feel Hurricanger is better than Kakuranger with the ninja plot. It's time to talk about the Tatsumi Famil y . An improvement from what Fiveman started with the family I do like Fiveman's sibling concept and I'd watch it any day over Magiranger . Fiveman wanted to try something new but it didn't work the first time. Not every new concept works all the time but it can be improved overtime. Fiveman started the sibling bond and GoGoFive continued it. While I do prefer Gaku Hoshikawa as an older brother over Matoi Tatsumi but the latter stil...