I love Kakuranger; it had comedy, drama, and a great/surprising ending.

Buckle up, lol

I felt the same way about that twist. In fact, none of Dairanger's twists are earth-shattering surprises if you're at all media savvy, but almost all of them are handled in an interesting way.

Engine Sentai Go-Onger episode 1 is done and wow I was laughing through most of it and loved every second. I grew up watching PR like many of us but seein the sentai counter-part to what could be considered one of the best written PR series to date makes me really happy especially laughing at the real reasons the cars had eyes XD

Yeah. Kakuranger is great. It was a ton of fun and knew how to balance comedy and drama well without seeming cluttered.

Unfortunately, yeah. I'm willing to let it slide since this was the 90's, so some of the revelations may have been more surprising back then. Not helped that Sentai, aside from a few key exceptions, was known to be very "By the books" back then.

Anyway, 45, 45, and 47.
The first 3 parts to the ending arc. Kaku reveals himself to be a Gouma, defecting 6000 years ago after they turned down his decision to no go to war with the Dai tribe, having only a few followers in agreement with him.
One of those followers dies to the under informed Dairangers after he planted two antennae to channel YouRyoku and KiRyoku into Kaku's body.
However, that information comes a little too late, as Kaku is hellbent on ensuring the Dairangers disband, stealing Kameo and Kou's RaiRai Jewels as well as the Kibachanger. The other Dairangers put up more of a fight, but they are soon beaten to unconsciousness as he takes the Aura Changers and their RaiRai Jewels as well.
After receiving a call to arms from various sources, they all meet up at one of the antennae only to find Zaidos there to destroy it. Learning that Kaku plans to take leadership of Gouma and needs the antenna to accomplish it, the powerless Dairangers put up a fight to protect it.

Meanwhile, the fight is soon to start between Kaku and Shadam...

These 3 episodes are rather nice, setting up the high stakes as well as showing the resolve of our heroes. I dislike Kaku intentionally withholding information for the reason of "To keep our heroes from worrying," since it's a thin veil to keep the viewer out of the loop. I really would have preferred a stronger argument for why Kaku didn't just spill his plan since there isn't an actual reason for the Dairangers to not know.

The battle with the untransformed rangers and Zaidos is one of the best fights in the entire series.

BTW, I got lucky to see Dai well before I was able to find massive amounts of spoilers on it, so that could also be one of the reasons why it ended up being my top favorite Sentai series. I went in nearly blind with only knowing the bits from MMPR and that Kiba Ranger was a kid.

Oh, god yes! It was built up so well, and the untransformed roll call/pose down sequence was breathtaking. The close-to-end-of-series "depowered heroes muster up the courage to fight to the bitter end, powers be damned" trope is one of my favorites, and it's particularly rousing in Dairanger.

Well it was the first time in Sentai history that they had a episode where the heroes didnt transform at all.

I didn't know that! What an interesting factoid. I wonder -- did that ever happen again after Dairanger?

Oh, definitely. I loved the untransformed fight. It's also so nice to see, especially when they opened with their full role call, too.

Anyway, episodes 48, 49, and 50.
There's a lot that goes down.
First is that the rangers put up a valiant effort, but without their powers, their KiRyoku is too weak to protect the antenna. However, through the lost allies they made (And Kameo), they are able to regain their determination and summon their Aura Changers and the RaiRai Jewels. Now back to their normal power, they confront Zaidos and defeat him. Volcano head goes down, but a strange occurrence happens and Zaidos turns to stone and crumbles.
In the meantime, though, we lose Kaku, unable to defeat Shadam after losing both the antenna. The Dairangers don't have time to mourn their loss, as they have to infiltrate Gouma's base and defeat Shadam themselves now. Being intercepted by guards and Gara, Daigo and Rin split off to take her down themselves. However, a shocking revelation occurs once more! Gara is revealed to have died in the original war thousands of years ago, and the one we see is just a mud puppet like Zaidos. The original Gara's spirit arrives with Kujaku and they revert her back to clay, destroying her.
Things seem to be looking up as they only have Shadam to deal with, but then those damn kids woke up DaiJinRyuu again. Pissed off, he guns straight for Gouma's base, not even wasting time as he opens fire.
Before the Dairangers can engage Shadam, he quickly runs off to encounter Gouma the 15th and throws us another twist. In the original war, he died as well. With Gouma worrying that they can't operate without a leader, Shadam forged mud puppets of many Gouma, including their leader, Gouma the 15th. He immediately turns him back into a pile of mud to retrieve a powerful jewel and declares himself Gouma the 16th!
With no time to spare, the Dairangers all meet up and begin their attack on Shadam. However, with this powerful jewel, he's more than a match, tossing them around easily. The Dairangers aren't about to quit, though, and continue their assault using the RaiRai Jewels to counter Shadam's, before Kaku's spirit appears before them all and orders them to cease fighting. Pointing out that destroying YouRyoku will destroy KiRyoku and that good and evil will always be two sides of the same coin, the RaiRai Jewels (Kameo's included) as well as the DaiChi Douten Jewel (Is that DaiJinRyuu's jewel?) shoot off into space, removing the Dairangers' powers and reverting Shadam back to his normal state. Gouma's base falls from the sky, and Shadam retreats. Ryou, however, is vying for revenge, chasing Shadam down and engages in a brief fight before one more twist is revealed. Shadam, the creator of the mud puppets, is himself a mud puppet! Deteriorating, he begs Ryou for help before he shatters to pieces. As the others had retreated, Gouma's base explodes. DaiJinRyuu retreats back into the sky as, from the ashes of the setting sun, we see Ryou survived. Gouma was destroyed, and now the Dairangers decide to disband to pursue their normal lives once more.
However, all is not done, as during a Dairanger reunion 50 years later, we see that their grandchildren have taken up the mantle. With the return of the Gouma, we see a new set of Dairangers ready and eager to fight.

Yeah the actor who played Tenma Ranger talked about that in a recent interview with Tokusatsu Network.

I would assume that other seasons did it as well after Dai. But I have a terrible memory when it comes to sentai :lol

The mud puppet ending to Dairanger was neat, but it left me asking questions that I will never get answers to. I enjoyed Dairanger though; thought it was a good follow up to Zyuranger. Wish they had a team up movie.

Dairanger is a very interesting show that bored me on my first watch. I guess because it just literally throws you into it, I didn't think it'd interest me. I am, though, glad I watched it in full this time around.

This is probably the earliest Sentai that I've enjoyed, and for good reason. The characters are all fleshed out and they feel like people. I never outright disliked any of them, which is always good (Though Kou's introduction did leave a sour taste in my mouth). The characters worked off each other well, having a good balance of attitudes and attributes so that they clashed but felt like they could still be legitimate friends. There is some weakness to them in that they are a little bland in terms of their overall character, but because they weren't made over the top, I'm letting it slide. Ryou wasn't too special as a Red, being a determined leader who'll always be the first to stand, he was still a good Red. My only real problem is that his character type is a bit too common as far as Red rangers go. Daigo is quite a standout character, being someone who loved the world and everything that lived on it, plants and animals included. He gains a long spanning story arc through his love, Kujaku. I'm glad it didn't dip into melodrama too often (Though there were some occasions...) and it was handled well, Kujaku slowly moving from outright revenge to atonement for a friend. Rin was a bit of a different beast, appearing somewhat bland, but her actions often played key roles in the plot, especially with Kou. She was enjoyable, but the episode that really made me see her strength was when she fell in love with a Gouma. To see how far she'd go for him was exciting, and it really got to me.
As with all Sentai, though, there are always some who don't get the time they need. Shouji was a nice character, a strong and devoted character whose strength is what made him shine. He believed in others and, as shown with the 3 idiots, is willing to give others the benefit of the doubt. While his episodes were great, he just didn't get enough. Kazu though...Poor Kazu. He was nice, playing a key role in finding DaiMugen, but he didn't do much otherwise. While we do know some about him, such as his work at a salon as well as his putting on a "Cool" front, he just didn't get any time to shine beyond a few token episodes. Kou was an interesting 6th character, and that's not just his being a child. Being used to modern Sentai that make the 6th an unstoppable badass, I was afraid that Kibaranger would eat up the spotlight (Not helped that, with Kou being a "Cool kid who does what he wants and isn't afraid to break the rules" style of kid character a la Bart (Though Simpsons wasn't in Japan, but you get the idea), that he'd be shoved to the forefront), but I was proven wrong. Kibaranger was modest in his appearances, often times going up to 6 episode runs of not appearing at all. It helped keep him interesting while also keeping the team dynamic of the main 5. While I do wish he was shown as more of a team ranger, it was a nice refresher from the current day norm. While Kou's acting chops did need some work, he was a decent enough character. His initial appearances did make me completely hate the kid, his story afterwards was what warmed me up to him. His tragic history with his mother and his relation to Gouma kept me glued to my seat to learn what happens next.

The side characters were another story, though. Some of them good, some of them very meh. The big one is Kou's mother. She is a major character who appears very sporadically, but the plot for a good chunk of episodes revolve around finding her. Despite this and her connection to both a hero and the villains, she never even gets a name. That's terrible. She's a rather weak character, despite the story payoff being done well. The next is their mentor, Doushi Kaku. I really enjoyed him, as I'm a fan of the calm and cool mentors. While the idea of an ally character/mentor being connected to the enemies is nothing new, I still enjoyed how they pulled it off with Kaku, him being willing to return and try to take command to save everyone. As a character, though, there isn't much to say. He's wise, he's calm, he's cool. I like him, but he isn't something I haven't seen before. Next is Kujaku, the character with one of the longer story arcs. I really enjoyed her, being a warrior out for revenge due to one slip up to slowly regaining her humanity and sympathy, but also slowly dying due to her body being unable to adapt to current times. She was enjoyable and her sacrifice was quite touching. There were some moments of weakness, particularly during her earlier appearances, but ultimately, I'd say she's a good character. Jin is basically a villain turned anti-hero. However, since his significance takes place post death, I'll place him here. He's kind of despicable, but he's more of a factor toward's Ryou's growth rather than a character himself. To see the lengths he'd go to achieve martial arts perfection was rough, but for him to return and start to see the good in humanity was a little confusing. I did like his return and how much of an impact he left on Ryou, though. The last is Kameo, who I don't know if I liked. I initially didn't care for him, but then Yellow Owl took the role and I loved it. He's kind of a child in a man's body, but he's willing to go with the Dairangers because he finds out he's DaiMugen. He doesn't change much beyond being willing to aid his friends, mainly Kazu, even if he's terrified. I like him, but I can't say for certainty whether or not it's because I loved Raita from Jetman.

Now, the villains. I'm gonna be honest, they weren't that strong. Zaidos went from a stoic generic to a chuckling idiot. He really didn't interest me at all. Gara was fairly nice. Her rivalry with Kujaku being what kept her interesting. Her history with her as well as her hatred for her today made her fairly fun to watch, but the reasoning for her hatred (A scar that she can literally make disappear at a moment's notice) was kind of weak. The scar should've been a permanent part of her design. I did like what drove their friendship apart was Kujaku's trying to heal her, though. Akomaru wasn't anything special, really, but his hatred for his father, Shadam, was an interesting twist. He tried to keep it inside him, acting as if he didn't care for his father, but as things started to spiral out of control, he soon showed how he really felt, abandoned by his mother and father and raised in such a hate filled environment, it's hard to blame him. He truly got to shine during his final scene, though, where he finally got to meet his mother and feel her love one final time. Finally, Gouma the 15th. He was there, too.
Now then, there's Shadam. He moved from lackluster brute to interesting villain fairly quickly with the introduction of his son. I was always curious about what he had up his sleeve and what he was going to do next. He felt like Radiguet from Jetman in that it was always hard to get a beat on his next move. However, unlike Radiguet, he didn't devolve into insanity, making him far more interesting. While his twists kept me on my toes, his heartless nature is his biggest failing. In the end, he was just a heartless monster who only cared for power. He wasn't anything new or creative.

The story at hand is problematic to talk about, since it was just "Dairangers vs. Gouma" with multiple sub stories throughout. As a whole, the stories they told were done well, as I can't think of any I outright disliked. Some could've been told better (Notably Kou's story), but it was still good for what it was.

As for designs, it's very hit or miss. I really love the Dairanger's suits. The white is dulled and their colors aren't overtly bright, so it's not an eyesore. The helmets are designed well and it's just great to look at. I can understand problems with white being in the forefront, but I enjoy it.
Additionally, I love RyuuSeiOh. The dragon mode looks great and the puppetry used to achieve it is excellent. It's warrior mode is just as nice, being sleek and slim for a very fast look. It fits with the martial arts motif. DaiRenOh also looks good. The heavy armored Chinese guard look does stand out a little too much, but it does look good as a whole. WonTiger kind of skirts the line of about average. It's not too amazing, but it does enough right for me to enjoy both it's modes, though the tiger mode is the weakest. However, the rest of the mechs are just bad. I hate how they designed the other KiDen beasts. I know why they're designed the way they are, but they just look awful. All incredibly static, all unable to do much beyond wiggle their heads. It's an eyesore for a series that started off so well with RyuuSeiOh. WonTiger's combined form (Which I can't remember) also isn't that good. I do enjoy some aspects of it, but I just don't think it works as well as DaiRenOh. DaiMugen, though...A box that you stand up. It's so disappointing, especially for such a large being. I've always wanted it to be able to do so much more...
The Gouma also look bad. Yes, there are standout examples here and there, but for the most part, the majority of the monsters look ugly, and not in the "Intentionally ugly" style of things.

As a whole, I enjoyed Dairanger. It's one of the better "Older" Sentai I've seen, not being massively overhyped like Jetman or just "Decent" like Megaranger. There are many aspects I had issue with, but no series other than Gekiranger is perfect, so it's alright. I'm unsure how I'd rank it, but I do enjoy it for what it did. The stories it told were good and the action was always nice. There were risks taken (There was also the VS thing that they tried for a few episodes before dropping, which was kind of curious), and they usually paid off, thankfully.

For Sentai, my ratings would be
1. Gekiranger
2. Kakuranger
3. Dairanger/Gokaiger
4. Dairanger/Gokaiger
5. Goseiger

I was wondering that. It was pretty interesting to see~

It was something that was on my mind, too. They kind of skirted around it, but I would've loved for a follow up rather than a one off line about it.

I think the issues with Kou's mother could have been improved if they had gotten a woman who could act. My god that woman was just awful.

You're list cracks me up because my top 5 series go Dai, Kaku, Zyu, Geki, and Car, so three of my favorites are also your favorites.

Oh yeah, don't know if you knew this, but Kou's actor played young Burai in Zyu. :lol

I really love Gara and Shadam. They aren't my favorite Sentai villains (that goes to Junior in Kaku, Zylpheeza in GoGoV, and Rio in Geki), but they are definitely up there. Zaidos though, was there just to be more of a comic relief type, but he did have his moments such as handling the execution of Jin. That is another one of my favorite scenes, especially helped by the orange sunset get up.

Yeah. I think Zyu will be the next one on the plate, unless something else catches my eye.
I think I probably like Dairanger over Gokaiger, mainly since as I watch more series, Gokai is starting to wane.

I didn't want to comment on her acting because I didn't see her enough to remember. Bitch needed a name, though :lol

Anyway, Gara and Shadam were the better villains, but they both had the problem of just being too evil. They didn't do enough to be super memorable, which is the problem with the villains as a whole. They felt too stock and generic aside from the final twists Shadam had. It does make sense that Zaidos is more of a comic relief villain. I guess I just didn't think of it when we had 3 episodes dedicated to reoccurring comic relief villains (By the by, I didn't mention it, but I enjoy the 3 Idiot characters. There isn't much to say about them, but their final episode was rather strong, even though they survived their sacrifice).

Oh, and Jin's final scene was beautiful. I remember commenting on it after watching it. The fight against impossible odds and dying in the sunset off screen. Great~

Glad you liked it! It's a very satisfying show, and more propulsive than any sentai I've seen.

And like you, despite how good it is, I'm unable to place it at the top of my list of sentai shows. I just didn't get very emotionally connected to the leads.

But... But... Kou's mom is also the Commander from Jetman! And she's one of the top 5 best things about that show!

Though, in Dairanger she does kinda suck... mostly because pretty much all she does is scream KOU!!!! at the top of her lungs. As a character, she's not unlike Michael from LOST... Imagine those two on a date.

"Oh, you have two sons from a previous relationship? I have one, too. Now, where did he run off to? WALT!?"
"KOU!?"
"WALT!!!???"
"KOUUUUU!!!???"

:lol

Dairanger and Gokaiger are jockeying for position on my list, too (both sit at #3/4 as well). I think Gokaiger's hero characters are better realized, but I think Dairanger's overarcing story is more engaging.

Gokaiger is the only sentai I'm interested in rewatching, once I get a bunch more series under my belt. So we'll see how it ranks whenever that rewatch happens.

Really, a spot in my top 5 isn't that hard, as I've seen about 9 Sentai in full. However, I did really find Dairanger to be pretty nice of a series. The characters are a bit bland, unfortunately.

I love Gokaiger, but it is at #10 or 11 on my list. I'm not sure which I like more, Gokai or Ginga. I guess now that I can finally watch Ginga subbed I will know for sure.

Is she really? Wow, I never knew that. Now that I think about it, it is her. Holy ****!!!

Never watched Lost, so I have no idea who that is.

I guess it's hard to give it your all when you're forced to scream "KOU" for half your episodes :lol

And Takeru from Maskman was in that episode where Rin was an idol. I love how sentai reuses actors. The commander and Raita from Jetman in Dairanger. Kou was in Zyu, Geki was in Jetman. White Swan was in Kaku. I'm sure there are more I am missing from that era alone.

The actress who played Gara in Dairanger was Dr. Mazenda in Liveman :)

I forgot about her! She plays a good villain. Like the actress from Denziman, Sun Vulcan, and Zyuranger.

I remembered another one (kind of falls outside of the lines though) Miku/Mega Pink played Bouken Silver's mom.

Machiko Soga :)

Natsuki/ BoukenYellow's mom was Chisato/ Mega Yellow :)
And her dad was Kazu/ KirinRanger who also played the two ninjas serving Tsuruhime together with his twin brother.

Speaking of twins, the twin brother of Retsu/GekiBlue who played his reflection in episode 38 also played Takuma/Akibared II :D

Gara'a actress was also in Ohranger (which I think was her final appearance).

Also, Yutaka Hirose, Jin in Dai, was Dr Kempu in Liveman, Tranzan in Jetman, Ley Wanda in Flashman, among being nobody characters in various Kamen Rider seres and stuff.

thanks for reminding me of her name, and Kirin Ranger also had a twin brother. That is how they pulled off the double episode in Dai.

I enjoy seeing old actors return. It's always a treat, granted, I don't always catch them (White Swan was in Kaku!?), but it's still cool.

That's the same thing they did with Retsu in Gekiranger :lol

Really? That's awesome~

haha I'm sure we all remember Tsubasa/MagiYellow coming back for Go-Busters as Masato Jin XD

Just finished watching Kyoryuger and I've got those post-Sentai blues. I still haven't watched 100 years after and I'm going to re-watch the Kyoryuger vs ToQGer now that I actually know the characters.

I think I'm either going to watch Go-Busters or Goseiger next, as well as trying to work in more NINninninninininin.

Actually, she was in Dekaranger's movie. She voiced "Algolian Giin."
Not really an onscreen role, but it's a toku role nonetheless.

Oh yeah, let's not forget that Master Kaku also appeared in Kamen Rider 555.

Wow. I would not have saw that coming.
Then again, I can barely make it through 15 episodes of Faiz to even find out...

Well he does appear in the first episode.

That just goes to show how quickly Faiz lost my attention :lol

It's cool. If memory serves me correctly, he was only in the opening to the first episode and then did not show up again until the 20s.

TVNihon subbed the ToQGer returns special and I just finished watching this.

The special was great, though I think my only complaint his how unneeded ToQ7 was, he felt completely shoe horned and it's kind of a waste...

Dairanger. Up to episode 14.

I watched 38-42 of Ohranger. It does suck being caught up again, but oh well. These are probably some of the best episodes of the entire series since the tone change.

Just finished Kakuranger, now onto Ohranger on my continuing quest. My first Sentai was Shinkenger then Gosaiger. When I saw what Gokaiger was all about, it figured I should know who they're turning into so I'm watching everything else before Gokaiger.

Kaku was interesting. There was some great stuff and there were some real bombs - that Christmas episode - what were they thinking?

I"m only 6 episodes in to Ohranger but this seems much more my taste. Of the older series, I've really liked Dairanger, Liveman and Maskman. Jetman was pretty good too.

Just wait. By episode 9 you will be like, "WTF?!"

I was quite disappointed with how they used ToQ7, I'm hoping he has a greater role in the ToQGer vs. Ninninger....and hopefully there will only be 5 core rangers instead of 10 this time. It was a neat device for the film, but I felt that my time was too broken up between so many people.