Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Super Sentai had a couple of swordsmen who weren't red rangers. While it's common to typecast Super Sentai reds as the swordsmen but did you know it wasn't always like that? Let's take a look at them. Ryuu Higashi/Dia Jack pretty caught me off guard when I started learning about the existence of more pre-Zyuranger Super Sentai. I haven't seen JAKQ to comment on this one. Kyousuke Shida/Battle France used a rapier in battle. Battle Japan used a spear instead. I also got caught off-guard with this one since I was too used to seeing reds as champion swordsmen but it didn't always start out that way. Watching a few episodes of Battle Fever J, I'll admit I'd want to take fencing lessons from him.

Back in the 80s, some equipment were really obviously plastic. On the bright side, there were really lots and I mean lots of action that accompanied them. Two swords came to my mind which made me say it's dull but just wait until you see these guys in action. Note that the stuntman used here is the legendary Kazuo Niibori .  Takeru/Red Mask with his Masky Blade fight scenes Okay, I've written an article on  the two Takerus  but I'd focus on Red Mask here. I thought his Masky Blade looked so plastic that the default swords of the Maskmen (which accompanied the Laser Magnums) team looked sharper. Most of the time, he preferred to fight with his Masky Blade which allowed him to do the Laser Arrow move (Geki/Tyrannoranger later does this move against Burai/Dragon Ranger) and the Masky Crash. For a plastic sword fight scene, I'd say that the lack of the illusion of sharpness was made up with a lot of pretty intense action scenes whether it'd be monsters of the we...

Just a start, just because a show appears here doesn't mean I dislike the show. I'm just pointing out which suits I felt weren't really in part for my taste. I've watched some Battle Fever J and I'll admit, it's a pretty cool show even if it's really that old Super Sentai. I'll admit this wasn't really what I had in mind when it came to costume innovation. I was amazed how this suit was made for the one-shot X-1 Mask in Maskman. I just thought that I'm not such a fan of minimalist designs. Kakuranger is one of them. It might be a fun show but I still can't help but think the suits are bland. The action and other stuff made up for it.

I was reading Ukiya Seed and found out that yes, ToQGer has been skipped and Ninninger will be adapted into Power Rangers Ninja Steel. The name does sound kind of cool except for this problem... The swords in Ninninger doesn't look sharp. Quite a shame really it took place in 2015 but the swords produced really didn't come out as good as those in Kakuranger and Ninninger. Instead, it almost looked like sword props that were used in the 80s Super Sentai. I felt like the name "Ninja Steel" might not be so fitting compared to "Ninja Strike".

I wrote an entry on cheaper-looking swords for Super Sentai as of late but it would be nice to think of the sharper-looking blades that were done. This is where innovation really did it right with the swords. Kurama Tetsuzan's samurai sword looked pretty sharp. Now why didn't Battle Fever Robo get that kind of blade for the fight scenes? Not enough budget perhaps? Takayuki Hiba/Vul Eagle II uses a samurai in battle. That was a really sharp start, pun intended. While the swords in Bioman didn't look all that impressive, Bio Robo's Super Maser looked amazing. While I could say, "Well that's the 80s." to Red Mask's rather weak looking Masky Blade, the Photoelectron Riser sword was really sharp looking.

While it could be understood that many swords in the 80s Super Sentai looked cheaper than those in later seasons due to the technology that time. I thought about the quality of sword props in later modern Super Sentai seasons weren't really good. Some of the swords of older school Super Sentai from the 90s to last decade looked better than these. So are they immediately promoting the toys directly instead of having to use prop swords? Looks like it. Kyoryuger's Gaburicalibur While Kyoryuger had lots of the main cast doing civilian fight scenes, I thought the Gaburicaliburs really look dull. The civilian fight scenes done by the main cast are still a plus for the show though. ToQGer's Rail Saber Much of ToQGer feels for me, "Is this the best innovation they can come up with?" These Rail Sabers make me think that the crew responsible for design for just almost everything in the show weren't putting their heart into it. Ninninger's Ichibantou I...

While it may be chronologically order than Super Sentai but it's not the longest consecutive Tokusatsu series produced by Toei. It also had competitors within Toei namely Super Sentai and Metal Hero. So let's get started shall we? Remember, this is again very limited and I'm just sharing what I've known since I haven't seen much of the older era. While Kamen Rider Ghost is currently airing and Super Sentai will have its 40th anniversary, let's try to review on Kamen Rider's existence. Kamen Rider, the Showa era Kamen Rider started out as Shotaro Ishinomori's series. Unlike Super Sentai, it wasn't very consecutive as it can be evidenced by this timeline that showed there were hiatuses in between. While Super Sentai had a two year hiatus in between JAKQ and Battle Fever J, Kamen Rider had more of them. The first Kamen Rider took place from 1971 to 1973 running a total of 98 episodes. Earlier shows tend to run that long to the point sometimes q...