I'm the same way. I have a hard time getting through the series before Liveman, which sucks because I really really want to love both Flashman and Changeman but I just have a hard time sitting through them to the point that I am not going to bother watching them until a group gets serious about subbing them.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendations. These are two series I've definitely been interested in checking out.

Can you tell me what they have in common with Kakuranger that might make me like them (without getting into spoilers!)?

The progression of the story and characters is on par. Liveman and Megaranger start slow and rely on more comedy as the story ramps up just like in Kakuranger. The villains improve throughout the season and the endings are all really good.

Check them out, I really think you will enjoy them.

Great answer! I'll probably check out Megaranger next, then. I've always loved the design of that show.

I got to the episode in Megaranger where they introduce the second robot (the one the first one combines with, not the 5-piece robot...sorry, forgot their names) and thought it was boring.

The Delta?

Delta Mega, yeah, that's it.

The series was alright, but I just didn't care anymore by that point. Then again, while watching through it, I had only recently finished Zyuranger and was going through a bit of a withdrawal, and just wanted more of that.

I finished Kakuranger weeks ago, but my journey through the past of Super Sentai is only just beginning. Instead of tackling Megaranger like I said I would (I'll get to it eventually), I decided to finish up some of the series I've started and haven't finished.

First on the list was MASKMAN, which I have now completed.

And I've gotta say -- I wish I hadn't bothered picking it back up. There are a few cool episodes (episodes of note are: the Galaxy Robo intro two-parter, the Momoko/Underground Flower episode, all of Haruka's ninja history episodes, the one with Barabas's incest-y mother, just about every Kiros-centric episode, the Unas-Akira two-parter, and the one where Haruka and Momoko become outlaws, the one where the kids are forced to dance to death) and a few characters I really dug (Igam, Haruka, Kiros), but overall Maskman was utterly, painfully generic. The male heroes were cookie-cutter, the female heroes were interesting but got short-changed on focus episodes, and all of the villains except one (Igam) had very superficial motivations (and several were downright idiotic).

My enjoyment would have improved if the action was good, but I got really sick of the stock footage for the mech fights, and the human-sized fights were pretty "meh" throughout the series. And -- in what is perhaps the most damning indictment of a Super Sentai series for me -- I never once went, "this is so ridiculous, I can't believe what I'm watching." I'm almost always bowled over by the absurdity of at least ONE element in a sentai show, and that never happened here (although no one realizing that Igam was a woman was absurd in an infuriating way).

My major criticism (what, the above wasn't enough?) is that while I got a feel for who all of the hero characters on their own, I never understood their relationships. I have little to no idea of what the heroes thought about each other, and I feel like at any moment one of them could have been replaced without any of the others noticing. The villain characters were slightly better in this respect -- at least I understood that Igam and Ial had a contentious sibling rivalry and that Barabas hated everyone -- but their often baffling stupidity (seriously, you had NO CLUE that Igam was a woman? She's wearing high heels, a bustier, and heavy make up in every scene she's in, for heaven's sake) mitigated my appreciation of even that.

I'm not one to poke holes in the story logic of a sentai show, but the second I start thinking critically about Maskman, my mind explodes with questions. Like... Why was Kenta part of the team? What was the point of Momoko? I'm told Takeru is a thrill-seeking badass, but aside from the two episodes where he demonstrates a modicum of badassery, isn't he mostly just a lovesick puppy dog? How can I be expected to care about a climax focused entirely on Ial and Igam's relationship, when I only ever saw them interact for like, 5 minutes before they used their here-to-fore unmentioned magic sibling powers to save the world? Was there any nuance to Zeba's plans, or was he just trying to take over the world using late-in-the-game introduction of "Evil Particles?" Why didn't Zeba just kill Igam and/or Ial so they could never be reunited? In 51 episodes, they couldn't give Kenta another character trait beyond "this guy likes girls, I guess?" They couldn't have spent one more episode on Momoko? They couldn't have wrapped up the car racing stuff at all? What in the world is going to happen with the Underground Empire now that everyone on the surface is aware of their existence? Ugh, it's maddening!

The above may make it seem like I hated Maskman, but I didn't. I just found it completely unexceptional. So many people laud this show as the best series 80s Sentai has to offer that it makes me wonder if I should just stick to the 90's and beyond for my Sentai fix.

Finally had the chance to sit down and catch up on some Ohranger. My god, it seems like for every good episode, there are 2-3 bad ones. I watched 23-32 and the only good ones were the King Ranger 3 parter and the nightmare monster episode.

I also watched the movie and the first time I watched it raw I thought it was bad, but it was even worse subbed. Easily one of the worst Sentai movies of all time. It was so bad, boring, and dragged on for way too long.

I just finished Kyoryuger last night. I was so sad to see it end. But I was happy for everyone in the end. It almost made me cry.

Now I'm starting Zyuranger! And damn is it trippy in comparison to MMPR! If you haven't seen any of it, let me leave you with this.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...28&oe=560165CD

I'm also watching Dino Charge whenever episodes air. But they're really being slow about it. They should be to episode 15 or something by now! But the last episode to air is 8 and there is information out for episodes 9 and 10 but they've been at a standstill for weeks! What the hell, Nickelodeon?

We have a what are you watching PR thread.

Anyway I've been somewhat in a sentai mood recently. Been thinking about tackling Boukenger. Is it good, I want to tackle something that doesn't have a happy high energy red. There's been too many of those.

I recently finish Dairanger and moved on to Kakuranger. Wow what a change in tone! I'm hoping it gets better (i.e. less non-stop silliness). I really liked Dairanger, it's moved into my top 3 series that I've seen the majority of.

I started watching sentai with Shinkenger (which remains my favorite) and went to Gosaiger. I felt before I moved on to Gokaiger I should at least become familiar with the Sentai teams that they were going to change into and have been going from Goranger forward. I haven't watched any raws so I've completely missed some series and only seen a handful of others. Thanks to many dedicated groups, I've seen most or all of Bioman, Maskman, Liveman(my #3), Jetman and Zyuranger. I chose to skip Sun Vulcan since I wasn't sure I could make it through a whole series with only 3 main characters but I do plan to circle back to that and Goranger now that there are many more episodes available.

Kakuranger starts out pretty silly, but I think that adds to its charm. The social commentary is pretty interesting, so I recommend reading the TL notes for each episode -- they really shed light on some interesting context.

Once you get to the episodes where the main villains start being introduced, things get a bit more "serious." Young Prince Junior is an incredible bad guy.

My main criticism of the show is that it takes a while before the main heroes start getting developed, but once they do (in the early 20s), Kakuranger quickly proves it's one of the best sentai out there.

Yeah, Kakuranger was made to start out a bit silly because of how Dairanger ended. It's kind of like going from Zeta Gundam to Gundam ZZ.

My only complaint of Kaku is that Sekai and Saito are vastly under developed.. We learn absolutely nothing about who they were.

This is true. I'm often baffled when a show with 50+ episodes fails to define any of its characters, let alone two.

Sekai and Saito did have a fair share of spotlight episodes. I feel like I "got" their characters, but it definitely would have been nice to learn where they came from... instead of watching them deal with random kids of the week, as was their usual narrative purpose.

I think the main problem with those two were that, after they had to fetch their shinobi scrolls, they were basically always paired off. Every episode that focused on one heavily featured the other (The only one I can think of that didn't have them joined at the hip after the halfway mark was the episode with the boy with a camera).

While it is disappointing, I'm not angry. The characterization for Tsuruhime, Sasuke, and Jiraiya was great, and those two always kept the comedic elements from the early series after things got more serious.

Oh, I'm not angry at it, because every Sentai series does it, but it was a shame. It is disappointing how a 50 episode series is unable to cover every character. Hell, it isn't just Sentai though as even other series such as Gundam and Golion do it.

Hell, Boi and Dan are pretty much the same way in Zyuranger. We learn about the other characters' lives when in the past except for those two.

Thankfully Dairanger is a bit better at it, as everyone gets a story arc even if some are weaker than others.

I guess I kinda missed some of those or we define character arcs differently.

Many people tend to be more forgiving towards series they enjoy more. Like Sentai calling Eri's two whole episodes as amazing character development.

Eri had more than two episodes... Well, the Goseiger's didn't have that much development (except for GoseiKnight), but they were interesting nonetheless because of how they worked together.

Watched Fiveman episode 4 cause it was one of those eps that I missed. Here is my reaction.
http://ih1.redbubble.net/image.33774...0,white.u5.jpg
A truly "is this for real?" Ep.

Did the puppets show up that early?

So I'm currently rewatching Magiranger and I noticed this wonderful little easter egg which Michiko Yokote (head writer for Gekiranger and Goseiger), hid stage 15.

When Houka runs out of the church to help Makito, she tosses her bouqet behind her...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CISpHuoWIAA1QJY.png

... and Urara is the one to catch it.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CISpH66WcAErs6a.png

... and at the end of the show, Urara is the one getting married- in stage 47, which was also written by Yokote.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CISpHz4WUAEKurl.png

While it might be coincidence, I do believe that Maekawa and his crew (or at least Yokote herself) might have planned for Urara to get married and that's why I love this little scene so much.

Just watched Ninninger 11. Never really cared about newer Sentai that much, it came across as too flashy and had too much CGI (I love the practical effects in the older series) but i've been really enjoying this one, so maybe i'll give some of the other newer ones a chance. ToQger, Gekiranger, and Boukenger are my main interests.

Which leads me into my next question...my little brother was into Power Rangers around the time of Boukenger's PR version....RPM? I don't remember the title. Anyways, the first mecha was a bunch of road vehicles...the second one was space ships? That always kind of made me interested in the series...so, is it worth watching?

On the subject of Kakuranger, after I finished Zyuranger (my first series, for obvious reasons) I tried watching Dairanger but wasn't feeling it, so I checked out Kakuranger. I really liked the mythology behind each of the monsters, and the Batman '66-styled BOOM and POW exclamations, but I just couldn't deal with the show. I only got 9 episodes in, but I hated almost every character, thought the mech battles were boring, didn't care for the suit designs, and didn't really like how there wasn't any sort of main villain. Maybe it's just because I was still on my "oh my god Sentai is amazing" high from just getting into the series and finishing Zyuranger, so I was basically looking for more Zyuranger, but I really didn't like it. I guess I'll have to give it another go sometime.

How could you not like Kaku or Dai if you loved Zyu? Just curious because my order goes Dai, Kaku, and Zyu (they are my top 3 favorite Sentai series), and both shows pretty much fix the majority of Zyu's issues. Hell, Dai has very little filler. Usually I see people say they loved Dai and couldn't get into Zyu, not the other way around.

Because Kakuranger has gawdawful pacing once the team is put together, not helped by the interruptions by the narrator every few minutes.
The individual heroes all start as assholes (They all mature over their character arcs, which is amazing, but they start as unlikable douches beyond Tsuruhime and Jiraiya), the monsters can be a bit too silly in personality, and that damned narrator...
I love Kakuranger. One of my top 10, but it's very, very easy to see why someone would dislike it just from viewing the early episodes.

The pacing is not the least bit horrible, the narrator brings something new to the table of Sentai, the character growth is great, and the monsters are fine. The series has a perfect balance of comedy and drama, which is why it is one of the best.

However, my curiosity does not come from that. It comes from how someone can not like Dai or Kaku but like Zyu. They are all unique, and yet, have similar themes and feels going on in them. Zyu has just as much horrible pacing as Kaku, the monsters are silly, except in Zyu, the rangers have no personality in the beginning of the show.

Boukenger's PR version was Operation Overdrive. RPM is Go-Onger.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Boukenger because it never really worked with me, but it does have some pretty neat designs and a somewhat interesting concept.


Btw., I just watched the Toqger V-Cinema and it was soooo awesome! <3

I could not agree more!

Although, if you're not into the show's comedy, I can see the first 18 or so episodes being a slog to get through. I was super into the show's social commentary, and I loved how the yokai were inept members of society. In that way, they reminded me of the monsters from Beetlejuice. But I don't blame others for not being charmed.

The answer is clear from the original post. He never got very far into either of the shows. He didn't give them enough of a chance before jumping to his conclusion.

These three shows, while distinct, are very much of a piece. On every level, it's clear that the same guy was in charge of each. If the OP was interested in continuing through those series, I think he'd find himself very well rewarded.

I just finished ToQger and that was probably the cutest ending I've ever seen. Gave me the warm fuzzies :p

I dunno, Zyuranger grabbed me from the first episode. I guess I was looking for that to happen again with whatever other series I watched, but it was probably because Sentai was new to me with Zyuranger and I had no idea what to expect, making it more exciting. The Power Rangers nostalgia helped. I've gotten over that though, and have been enjoying Jetman and Ninninger lately. I fully intend on trying Dairanger again, since I love the concepts and all of the designs...probably after I finish Jetman (almost done). Kakuranger, however...something just didn't click with me. The only parts I actually liked were the narrator and the Yokai. I'll try again eventually, but I want to check out some of the others first.

Anyways, just finished the Ninninger episode with the telephone monkey looking thing. I think I only have 4 more to catch up now? I'm hoping they do some sort of combination with Shurikenjin, Bison King, Paonmaru, and/or UFOmaro. That'd be cool.

Even if you watch all of them completely though, they are still different enough to like not all of them. Personally, I really liked Kakuranger and also enjoyed Zyuranger, but disliked Dairanger- and I've seen all of them as a whole. It's really a matter of what you want from a series writing-wise and what themes and concepts you enjoy or not.

I disagree. The beginning (Rather, after all the rangers have gathered) the is far too heavy handed with the comedy, too many episodes feel like nothing happened at all, and just because the series tried something new doesn't mean it was a good decision. You had no idea how much the flow of an episode was stopped cold by that narrator chiming in. I was praying for him to disappear, and only got that wish by the halfway mark.

The comedy did not flow well with the drama, and often felt forced in (Episodes featuring Saizou and Seikai prove that point as they, the 'comedic duo' of the series had so little to do once the series as a whole became more serious, they felt forced into episodes. Often times their episodes as a whole were more filler than anything else).

I will agree that Saizou and Seikai got the short end of the stick, but that for me is the only flaw of Kaku.

The show needed to start out lighter though because it was coming off of Dairanger. It is just like how Gundam ZZ needed a more light hearted beginning due to Zeta.

I'm currently watching kyoryuger said. Shijou saikyo no brave desu ka?

Rewatching Dekaranger for the second time.

LiveMan Episodes 27-30: I totally loved Megumi's episode and the whole Black and Green Ranger/Giga Plan arc. This was some of the best that LiveMan has given us so far. I can't wait to see how this continues with the change to the Status Quo.

I can't decide if I should start Ninninger to catch up with everyone or if I should keep going where I left off with Zyuranger.

Why not both? xD