Other than LuPat:
- Kyuranger switched things up with a big roster, and it plays into who gets featured as well as they do draws to pick who gets to fight for the episode. It is Toei's attempt at Star Wars episodes 4 to 6 and just with those traits alone it is different.
- Jetman is basically a early 90s Japanese soap opera(or trendy drama as it is considered in Japan) akin to Tokyo Love Story but disguised as a sentai show complete with love triangles and all.
- Kakuranger is pretty much Toei's version of Journey To The West but with ninjas instead of a monkey, pig, sea creature, and a monk. They are always on the move like the A Team with their cat van. And they go really grunge rock on the fashion, because it's 1994.
- Gekiranger is a straight-up old school Kung Fu epic in terms of its narrative and pacing, and their suits are a nice homage to Bruce Lee's iconic yellow tracksuit making them the first sentai with no belts(sans Geki Chopper who is in full karate gi).

Go-Busters is a lot more serialised and actually does interesting things with the giant robot fights; finding multiple ways to build tension and dramatic moments

First to film outside instead of a confined indoors set for the big robot battles I remember was one of the big sales pitch.

This is a really, really tough question because even when parts of the format change, a lot of Sentai is pretty consistently "Sentai."

Dekaranger takes a more police procedural approach to Sentai, and it doesn't have a main big bad until very late in the game. It's pretty unique.

Kyuranger splits its massive team into semi-random workgroups to fight monsters/go on missions, which definitely separates it from the "normal" Sentai format.

Go-Busters starts off as a dramatic shakeup to the tone of Sentai, focusing on more real-world scifi concepts and Kamen Rider-style serialization, before becoming a Showa-era throwback about half-way through. That may sound like a criticism, but seeing the militaristic elements of Showa Sentai approached in the modern day actually makes it feel pretty unusual.

Dairanger is unique due to its heavy serialization. I don't think there's another Sentai quite as serialized, from beginning to end, as Dairanger.

Jetman and Timeranger both start out as fairly standard Sentai series before evolving into thinly-veiled J-Dramas roughly 20-25 episodes into each series. They're also tonally distinct from each other becausevthe J-Dramas they reference, from the late-80s and late-90s respectively, are totally different beasts.

I want to put Boukenger on this list as well, due to its emphasis on treasure hunting as opposed to monster-fighting, and its multiple villain organizations, but I haven't finished it yet, so I can't say it doesn't revert to standard Sentai fare as it goes on.

Obviously, Gokaiger isn't like any Sentai before or after it, for obvious reasons.

Yeah, and just for arguments sake I would also add that you can't necessarily judge how ''generic'' a sentai is by the makeup of the team, like for example even though Kyoryuger had unusual colours it did make a deal of being a lot like a ''traditional'' sentai, and on the flip side Shinkenger looks like a standard kind of team with a red-blue-green-yellow-pink combo, but actually ends up doing a fair amount of different things by the end!

Wow, everybody is making some great suggestions, and now I know what to focus on. I do love Sentai, but I get tired of the same format every season.

Of course they'll all have the core elements that make Sentai what it is - if I didn't want that, I'd watch a different series. But each season of Kamen Rider feels a bit more distinct from each other than Sentai does, so I was trying to figure out which Sentai seasons were the most unique.

Your list is very, very good. Those all sound like the types of qualities that I was searching for. I think Dairanger is next on my list - I love the Chinese influence, I love the Power Rangers nostalgia, and now (thanks to you) I'm excited about the more serialized storytelling.

I've heard that Gekiranger is pretty Wuxia-influenced, which makes me want to watch it. I think I'm going to go Dairanger first though - the Chinese influence is one of my main draws to Dairanger, but I have a feeling Gekiranger might set the bar too high and I'll end up disappointed lol.

Actually, I had Kyuranger and Gekiranger in mind when I asked this question, so you nailed it.

No problemo. Think of it this way, Gekiranger is classic Shaw Brothers and Dairanger is more of the 80s and 90s Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao type of comedic Kung Fu for a lack of better comparison. If you know any Shaw Brothers geeks recommend Gekiranger to them because two words; Five Venoms. Never have I thought I would live the day to see a Sunday morning superhero show pay tribute to that movie. Also another great feat they pulled off is there are 7 supporting characters in the show, and what is special about them are they are all voiced by people who do the Japanese dub of certain big name Kung Fu actors and actresses such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Michelle Yeoh to name a few.

That sounds awesome. Considering that Encounters of the Spooky Kind and Police Story are two of my favorite martial arts films, I'm thinking Dairanger might be more up my alley...but I'm definitely going to be watching both at some point.

The great thing about Dairanger is how it mixes multiple martial arts subgenres into one show. Yeah, it has that comedy Jackie Chan element with a couple of its story arcs. Other storylines more closely resemble Japanese martial arts movies. Some take a cue from Hong Kong/Chow Yung Fat action movies. And some do actually have a Wuxia vibe.

Gekiranger, while also really good, is much more firmly influenced by Shaw Bros movies. That said, structurally, I think Gekiranger is more of a "standard" Sentai than Dairanger is. That's not a knock on Geki at all, though, I still think it's a top-tier series.

Can anyone tell me why Muteki Shogun/Shogun Megazord's sword is a fish breathing a fire?

The creature at the hilt is a little more than a fish. It's known as a Shachihoko which is a chimera with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. The use of fire may be creative license, as they are mostly known for putting fires out by spitting water.

To add to ShiShiLeo's explanation in essence they are gargoyles and are installed primarily on rooftops. The kanji for it is also the same kanji 鯱 used for the orca, and actually is a combination of the kanji for fish 魚 and tiger 虎.

I watched the Super Sentai Movie Hero 2021 trailer and here are some of my questions for the upcoming Zenkaiger Movie: Why did most of the Red Sentai Heroes (except Ippei Akagi/DenziRed, Yamato Tribe King Geki/TyrannoRanger, Yousuke Shiina/Hurricane Red, Ryouga Hakua/AbaRed, Banban "Ban" Akaza/DekaRed, Daigo "King" Kiryuu/KyoryuRed, Right Suzuki/ToQ 1gou, Lucky/Shishi Red, Kairi Yano/LupinRed, Kou/RyusoulRed and Juuru Atsuta/KiramaiRed) returned to Earth frustrated after they were defeated in the Super Sentai Strongest Battle less than two years ago? Why are they stand united in fighting against the resurrected past villains instead of fighting against each other? Will Captain Marvelous/GokaiRed Gokai Change into Red Sentai Heroes again with the addition of Zyuohger, Kyuranger, LupinRanger, PatRanger, Ryusoulger and Kiramager Red Ranger Keys? Why are Rita (Nana Asakawa) and AkaRed (Touru Furuya) absent? And what are the other Reds' reactions over Zenkaiser, who is not a Red Sentai Hero but a White one instead?

This movie has nothing to do with that special. And neither does the show.

Also, PLEASE STOP TREATING SSSB as the turning point for the franchise and stop treating Rita as the new Big Bad of the franchise. Both were nothing but fan service, that isn’t meant to be taken as hard canon.

I really gotta ask at this point: you do know that there was no actual animosity or antagonism between any Sentai heroes in Strongest Battle, right? They were fighting for a prize, and all assumed each other as friendly rivals; and the moment any of them suspected something else was going on with the competition they instantly teamed up with the others around them to stop Rita. I don't know where you keep getting the idea that Strongest Battle made all the Sentai heroes hate each other or something.

Continuity in these shows has always been kind of loose, I feel, because they're not meant to co-exist. It's a bad idea to try and read the entire franchise as a single, continuous narrative because you're going to give yourself a headache long before you reach the point of asking how this new show can exist in a universe where Strongest Battle happened—and you're going to spend a lot of time asking yourself mundane questions too, like what is the actual jurisdiction of UAOH, how does it, as a government organisation, interact with Sky-Force, why was neither organisation consulted during the construction of Galaxy Mega &c. &c.

Just take a deep breath, and let it go. The reason for why anything happens is solely based on the assumption it will sell toys, anything that makes more sense than that should be considered a bonus.

If a trailer raises questions then its doing a good job. You're gonna have to watch the movie to get any answers!

Say, what's everybody's opinion on Abaranger? I like villainous extra rangers, so it intrigues me...but I haven't heard much about it otherwise.

I have felt for the longest time I should re-watch it, because I really disliked initially it in proportion to how much I really liked Hurricanger before it. Whilst I didn't really care for the main characters, I remember being really drawn in by the relationship between Jeanne and Rije—I think the dynamic between them is sort of fascinating and I wish it was explored in more detail.

What actually surprised me was I ended up narrowly preferring it to Dino Thunder, though possibly roughly equal on characters and that stretch from Gao-Aba in either version could arguably come off a little bit uninteresting compared to the excitement of Time and Deka but it's possibly good in an average sort of a way! Also, while everyone talks about Mikoto and I do admit he was groundbreaking though he's probably not the sort of character you're meant to really like, I actually probably liked Asuka the most! As cool as Tommy's comeback stuff in Dino Thunder was, I think the plot reasons they kept coming with for why he couldn't be in it did damage him in comparison, whereas some of Asuka's backstory and stuff just seemed pretty cool to me!

Not bad. Personally not my favorite but it's decent.

I love Abaranger. It's one of the top sentais for me and Abarekiller ranks top as the villain rangers. Guy was a bad guy all throughout the show until the last few eps.

There is some cringy stuff where Lije ages herself into Lijewel so that she can be close to Mikoto.

If you ask me, Abaranger is some of Arakawa’s best Sentai work.

I just finished it the other day. It’s... if you loved Kabuto you’ll love Abaranger, imo. Wild ride yet with sincerity where it counts

Hm? I suppose I do like both but I have to admit Kabuto is well up there in Kamen Rider terms for me whereas Abaranger is more just OK in my opinion.

Why was Turboranger the first Sentai in a long while to use "Ranger" instead of "Man", especially since Gorenger and JAKQ weren't officially considered applicable at the time?

Simple. Back-to-basics mentality. No joke, that was the intent. Keep in mind it was the beginning of the Heisei era as well that year, so I guess kinda like how they went back to a grasshopper with Zero-One they decided to go with ranger. And Turboranger was all about youthfulness and being energetic and stuff which is probably why they made them the first all-teenager sentai team and went with cars as the motif despite fighting enemies that look like something Zyuranger or Gingaman would fight.

So what is everybody's thoughts on Zenkaiger so far?

Well as for preliminary news it does look like it could be better than the initial suits led me to believe, I am still kind of pre-expecting it to not be quite as good as Gokaiger to a certain degree though even if I do end up quite liking it and I did want them to save most of the anniversary stuff for the 50th but I suppose it couldn't be helped seeing as there seems to be a pattern of after a hard year in terms of current affairs they want a light-hearted show.

I am excited for it, however my biggest concern is that I'm one of the few that doesn't like the head writer's previous works. Also it doesn't seem like the show will be having past Rangers as cameos outside of that movie.

To be honest, I'm kinda bummed that they didn't save the whole concept for Super Sentai's 50th anniversary instead.

Yeah, the only excuse I can think of is first the pandemic and second they are losing money with sentai stuff. Kiramager will probably go even lower than Ryusoulger in domestic toy sales and they need a Winspector level of a miracle I think.

This anniversary season seems to focus on the robots and mecha, which is cool.

I'm sure we'll get a character/show focused anniversary for 50th. Perhaps something more akin to the way Decade was for Kamen Rider.

I’ll probably watch a few episodes then get bored and drop it.

So here's what I think could be in store for Zenkaiger's tsuika senshi. The 6th member to join will be green and is a ninja-themed kikainoid who uses the Hurricanger gear. Now let's remember, Hurricanger was the 10th anniversary of the official start of the tsuika senshi and this was evident when it was revealed Shurikenger had the same palette as Zyuranger's Dragon Ranger Burai complete with extra gold armor on top of the green suit. And yes while technically X1 Mask came first he is a bangai hero/senshi at this point because Dragon Ranger is officially the start of the tsuika senshi.
So, because Zyuran has the Zyuranger gear, this new ranger is a ninja-themed Kikainoid who utilizes the Hurricanger gear because either:
A. At some point during the show appears and steals Zyuran's Zyuranger gear only for our heroes to take it back and teach the ninja a lesson, but later finds the Hurricanger gear along the way and becomes a Senpuujin-themed green Zenkaiger(or maybe a Tenkujin-themed to match the tsuika senshi concept) and goes solo at first while being salty towards them, especially Zyuran
B. This tsuika is the Ultraman Z of the show and has nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for Zyuran begging for a shot at aprenticeship or just tag along and admire the old man while Zyuran finds all this annoying

Another speculation I have, and ditching the ninja theme, what if said kikainoid is a sibling, rival, or nemesis to Zyuran and is brainwashed by the Tojitendo. The kikainoid would then be using the Abaranger gear and let's not forget, the bakuryus were green when brainwashed and prior to bonding with their ranger partners.

Why are there so many inconsistencies in Kakuranger!?

In Ep. 23, Muteki Shogun is revealed to be alive and Sasuke is genuinely surprised at this, but it's a "revelation" which has precedent.

- Muteki Shogun acted on its own to fight Kappa in Ep. 1.

- Muteki Shogun awoke on its own and even spoke when it gifted the Flaming Shogun Sword to Sasuke in Ep. 20.

Related to that Ep. 20 detail, it's also curious why the human-sized Flaming Shogun Sword was used only once!

i was trying to watch Turboranger but i couldn't get into it. i dunno why. i've tried a couple times to watch Hurricanger but i lose interest in it fairly quickly.

Are all the episodes of Turboranger fully subbed yet? I was going to watch it but then it didn't seem to be so I went for Flashman, which probably worked out better anyway! I find in most cases I've kind of made my mind up at least a bit already although there are still surprises and it can be satisfying when I get to the end of a show!

They’ve been subbed by Wandering Moonbeam subs for 2 months. I’m on episode 13, about to watch episode 14 (which I hear is where it gets really good)

So I’ve recently discovered that all of the Turborangers’ personal weapons (GT Sword, T Hammer, J Gun, B Bowgun and W Stick) can combine with the Turbo Laser, beyond the two that were seen in the show. But, I haven’t been able to find any pictures of the potential combinations online. Can someone help me in that regard?

Edit: Never mind, managed to find a playlist with what I was looking for.

Anyone have any recommendations for a first time sentai viewer? Trying to introduce sentai to someone who only really has Power Rangers as a point of reference. Been tempted to use Lupinranger v Patoranger because of the unique angle of the 2 teams. Thoughts?