Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Sometimes, you'll never know how much they meant to you before they're gone, right? I've been feeling blue. There are times I think of my late paternal grandmother -- even if she's been gone for more than a decade. The actress Chieko Murata died in 1995 at 80 years old. My paternal grandmother managed to live until she was 91 years old. The episode has the lighter side of Toshiki Inoue -- a guy who usually does well with serious stuff but tends to screw up with humor. However, that hasn't stopped me from wishing Inoue was Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters' secondary writer! The episode has some generation gaps present. Obviously, Grandma Tendo was born before Modern Japan. Ryu Tendo would've been born in Modern Japan. Some values start to change over time. One must wonder where Ryu's parents are. It seems that his parents died ahead of his paternal grandmother. Hence, Grandma Tendo was the one raising him if that's true. It's an aspect that was never exp...

  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...

  Back then, Chodenshi Bioman was my first exposure to the Super Sentai franchise. I want to do a review of the episode that may have brought tears to the eyes of the viewers. It was the death of Mika Koizumi. She was known as Cassie in the Filipino-English dub. The reason behind the episode was Yuki Yajima's sudden departure. Some say that she was pregnant (questionable), she had contractual disputes (most likely), or that she just quit realizing show business wasn't for her.  The episode begins with New Empire Gear plotting its latest revenge. A previous episode had Doctor Man slowly planning to get the biometrics of the Biomen. Blue Three served as a sample. That also included regeneration data. However, Doctor Man slowly discovered some of the Universe's biggest secrets. The Kryptonite to the Bio Particles was none other than the Anti-Bio Particles! Doctor Man devices some form of gangster-type gun called the Bio Killer Gun. Doctor Man entrusts the weapon to Mason after...

  \ Well, it's sometimes better late than never though I believe it's better never late, right? I'm now reviewing Saber + Zenkaiger Super Hero Senki which was very much last year. Now, I want to give my thoughts on several stuff I'm catching up ever since real life caught up. The movie was due to the fact that Kamen Rider turned 50 years old and Super Sentai had its 45th season. Though, Kiramager was aired on the 45th adversary of Goranger with the monsters-of-the-week serving as tribute to the Masked Monsters. Now, it's time to look at another non-canon movie which seems to throw in elements from The Never Ending Story (which may be an inspiration to  Kamen Rider Saber ).  The movie has the tandem writing of Nobuhiro Mouri and Junko Komura. I personally think Komura is hit or miss - she did well in Lupinranger vs. Patranger but I'm not fond of her anniversaries including the most recent one. Zyuohger was more eye candy and was only watchable IMHO because Power ...

I must admit that I've met various CLASHING opinions regarding Super Sentai. I've had some series that I enjoyed while others didn't. I feel Shogo B'Stard can be too negative with the newer Super Sentai. I think Sentai Bandicoot's opinions on Gougou Sentai Boukenger don't match up with mine. Sure, I don't think that Boukenger is that great anymore. However, I feel the series is still worth the watch for all its crazy antics. Right now, I even agree with some people that  Engine Sentai Go-Onger is a mess after I watched Carranger . Carranger may have not normalized ratings but it did gain some following that a rumor it saved Super Sentai happened. I didn't want to write about Kaiju No Kami's Super Sentai reviews until he did his Turboranger review where the thumbnail REALLY showed he absolutely disliked the show. I'm a guy who thinks Turboranger is decent while Kaiju No Kami says otherwise. Kaiju No Kami gave a good score to Carranger and a low sc...

  I confess that I'm finding Zenkaiger not as appealing as last year's Kiramager or some of the past post- Zyuohger series. Kyuranger was a fun new spin and Lupinranger vs. Patranger was an interesting twist. Though, I felt really bad after finishing Ryusoulger . I decided to watch this new age-restricted spin-off which was worth two parts. Apparently, Yodonna got so popular probably because of Nashiko Momotsuki's performance. Heck, Canalo even tried to hit on Yodonna in the Kiramager vs. Ryusoulger movie. Now, I'd like to talk about this age-restricted film (minor spoilers ahead). It takes place some time after Kiramager ended and Yodonna is in the Yodon Afterlife - something nearly reminds me of how Dragon Ball Z has Yamma separating the righteous from the wicked in the afterlife. Yodonna then starts to attempt to return to life while she was told about the need for emotions. How is the movie actually age-restricted? Not too much so don't expect any nudity or the...

Ah Gatchaman! Though this is not sentai, I feel like this series deserves to be placed in my blog. It's because Gatchaman is the series that inspired Super Sentai in many ways. Although Gatchaman was a series by Tatsunoko and NOT by Toei Ltd. - it did give Toei the inspiration for future installments. If you've noticed the 1970s Anime Gatchaman itself has the same team format as Toei's super robot five-team combiner series such as Combattler V, Voltes V, and Golion (template for Lion Voltron). Gatchaman was pretty much, technically speaking, a five-man Super Sentai team except that they were not color-coded. Rather, they were coded by their birds namely Eagle, Condor, Owl, Swan, and Swallow. Quite interesting The Gatchaman Trilogy The series itself was pretty much the seed of a lot of shows. The show presented a team of five heroes fighting the Gallactor Empire which was led by Sosai X and his right-hand man Berg Katse. Berg Katse is a comedic, catlike villain who ...

Well I haven't done a movie review for some time, haven't I? I think I do have some VS. Movie catching up to do such as Kyoryuger vs. ToQGer and ToQGer vs. Ninninger now that I'm somewhat out of the taste fatigue zone. Right now, I thought about the Space Squad movies  which started with Gavan vs. Dekaranger . Now it's time to link both universes (Kyuranger and Space Squad) in this movie where it's supposed to happen four years after the fall of Jark Matter. The whole movie somewhat gets its inspiration from Avengers: Civil War since one side defends Hammy (Lucky's side) and the other wants to arrest her (Tsurugi's side). The movie shows ups what could have become of the others such as Garu is now a family man, Spada is still running his restaurant and Stinger is still the commander. Tsurugi manages to become the president of the New Space Federation even if he was born in our time. I think this reality is actually the year 2322 if Jark Matter fell on 231...

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 just finished Dengeki Sentai Changeman and added it to my list of Super Sentai series I've watched from start to end. I admit that I'm enjoying Kyuranger and I can't wait for tomorrow's episode. On the other hand, I've just watched more of Changeman with subs courtesy of  LordTranza33 . I had some grueling moments downloading it but I came out victorious in the end. So let's get started shall we? Warning! There are some spoilers ahead unless you're a spoiler addict like me! I remembered how often Shogo B'Stard praises this show. I see why he would. Although I've had some varying opinion differences with him and yes, we "clash" at certain moments since I like Timeranger, Hurricanger, and Boukenger when he doesn't. But I could agree with him with Changeman as a really innovative series. This was the time of Hirohisa Soda before he eventually met his downfall midway Turboranger and really burned out bad in Fiveman (but I still like ...

I could remember watching the original Ucchuu Keiji Gavan. Years later, I remembered watching Dekaranger and I don't feel it's a great loss skipping Power Rangers SPD and not watching it. It's 2017 and two shows back from the past come back in a more mature fashion. The show has the violence that I saw in Gavan but not in Dekaranger. I felt Dekaranger was somewhat "lacking" from the badass action I've seen in most 80s-90s Super Sentai. I'd like to write what I felt about the movie which takes place in an alternate universe .  The movie focuses on the legacy of the two Gavans namely Retsu Ichijouji and Geki Jumonji. Zaido has no right to take part of the glorious legacy of the Space Sheriffs. If they should appear in the movie they should just make a terrible cameo where they get blown up for their incompetence. Geki shows he may not be perfect, he's pretty rash and he really did some stupid things but he's more than enough to rip off the Za...

It's official. I've already added Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger to my list of Super Sentai I've watched from start to end . I remembered how I used to think it's somewhat similar to Liveman with the whole three plus two formula. So what do I think of the show? It's actually one of my favorites though I'm afraid that it might enter into the ranks of shows like Shinkenger or Gokaiger... shows that just get too much credit by the fanbase. Let's get started shall we? Just expect me to get so unfair with full mode rage bashing right now so proceed with caution. Warning! Spoilers ahead!

It cannot be denied I have officially added Carranger into my official list of Super Sentai series I've watched from start to end . Okay I wanted to rant on Turboranger influence between the two shows. I have seen Turboranger which for me is one awesome show (and later, Carranger's Power Rangers' adaptation was called Power Rangers Turbo). So what's ironic is that Turboranger suffered from bad ratings and then, Carranger ended up saving the franchise so perhaps it's safe for me to say, "Carranger truly shifted into Turbo!" Now I am a Turboranger fan, no questions asked and I dislike Power Rangers Turbo (I pretend that series never existed and I hate the movie for its bad quality). For Carranger, it's one awesome comedy season (but mind you, there are sad moments too and it's better called a lighter season) in contrast to Turboranger (which I still like more, no questions asked but hey, I can like both Carranger and Turboranger right) but the ser...

I remembered the time I heard somebody's thoughts that, "Hey what if Gokaiger was a result of the Grand Delusion of the Akibarangers?"  I thought of it myself.  Normally, Super Sentai series are self-contained .  Any VS Series is usually set as a series of what ifs and Ohranger vs. Kakuranger's obvious to be non-canon to each series, may have set the standard of non-canon crossovers.  However some crossovers felt "canon" like Gekiranger vs. Boukenger felt like a sequel to Boukenger's ending, Go-onger vs. Gekiranger felt like a sequel to Gekiranger's ending, Shinkenger vs. Go-onger felt like a sequel to Go-onger's ending (and it introduced the Goseigers) all the while, verified by Toei to be a series of what ifs, than fitting all series in just one continuity.  The whole series is the Super Robot Wars of Super Sentai! In contrast to Boukenger (which I find better), Gokaiger itself exists as a huge anniversary of sorts and it really seeks to do ...

Well years ago, I learned that Seijuu Sentai Gingaman is Fantasy Leader's favorite Sentai (hence this post is primarily  dedicated to him) and I am proud to announce that I have completely watched the series. Gingaman itself would be Yasuko Kobayashi's first headwriting work and a masterpiece at that. So I can't really make a comparison similar to Fantasy Leader but I'll give my own tidbits. This would be the second production (or third considering Kamen Rider Kuuga was his production too and I saw Kuuga from start to end BEFORE Megaranger) by Shigenori Takatera that I would see from start to end. So after watching the series, while I can say that I do like Timeranger  (spoilers ahead) better than Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, but I am happy that I watched this series. Again, people know that my top favorite Super Sentai is Chojin Sentai Jetman . Based on series I've watched from start to end vs. those I have read about, Gingaman felt like it was mixing a lot of stuf...

Megaranger itself is one amazing Super Sentai series and I can dub it as a masterpiece.  After the horrendous failure called Power Rangers Megaforce, I am tempted to write this entry on Megaranger, the one true Mega series.  Megaranger was a series that aired from February 14, 1997 to February 15, 1998 which was trying to do some tribute to the Hirohisa Soda era  while having some elements from the Sugimura era.  The whole show in itself was indeed one Mega-series and I'd love to talk how it was a Mega Graduation for a team of teenagers. Megaranger was head-produced by Shigenori Takatera and its major writers were Junki Takegami (22 episodes as head writer), Yasuko Kobayashi (13 episodes) and Naruhisa Arakawa (11 episodes) who were the series' biggest contributors.  Takegami would later be responsible for GogoV, Gaoranger and well, Go-onger (which is a love it or hate it series, I just like it but I don't love it).  Yasuko Kobayashi herself would be ...