My biggest issues with Magiranger stem from how immature the ranger cast is and they spent more time on CGI than actual choreography.

Oh my lord. Most words describe how much I hate Kai. Kai to be has to be one of the worst reds I've ever come across. Bragging to his siblings about how he's leader, him not really doing ANYTHING when it comes to being a leader, and thinking that just because he's the leader, he can yell at his elder siblings. Even blue and pink dont have much to put on the table. I said this before in other forums, but I said that the family aspect doesnt really work because of how much it reminds me of like a Brady Bunch family. As for the fighting, CGI can be okay, but when it comes across as literally using CGi for everything, it makes the combat very, VERY lazy. I know its a magic based sentai, but I think of the 12-13 sentai I've seen, Magiranger has to be the sentai with the laziest combat.

I like the family aspect and when it's good, it's really good, but sometimes it comes off as eh. Urara is actually my favorite because she actually seems like she has a brain and takes the workload much more seriously than her siblings, I would've had her as Red.

And one of my problems with Magiranger is Kai/MagiRed himself. All I know is that he's red because of his potential, but he hasn't done ANYTHING leader-like or anything that proves that he should be Red or the leader, every Sentai I've seen before the Red even if he was inmature, stuck up or not suited to be at first, but they grow into the role and prove why they should be Red, but Kai hasn't done anything so far. Also not to mention I find him annoying.

Trust me on this. If you dont like Kai now, you're not gonna like him at all. Kai does not develop at all in this sentai. This sentai actually made me wish that magiyellow (forgot his name as im typing this) was red because he actually feels and looks the most disciplined out of the bunch.

Kai does not deserve to be a red ranger and Mikoto is way too immature to be the oldest sibling.

Makoto makes me question him a lot. Its like he wants to be the authority figure, but at the same time, he likes to act way too much like the life of the party. Tsubasa at least likes to treat others as comrades and likes to have fun when its appropriate. He doesnt act like a dick like Kai, and doesnt act like someone that I cant take seriously like Makoto. Tsubasa is the best character in the sentai bar none

I haven't finished any series recently, but here's where I am in various Sentai (all of these are approximations, give or take 1 or 2 episodes):

Episode 45 of Jetman (almost done!)
Episode 35 of Carranger
Episode 30 of Liveman
Episode 25 of Zyuranger
Episode 15 of Gingaman
Episode 15 of Abaranger
Episode 15 of Magiranger
Episode 10 of Megaranger

Jetman got hella-dramatic. Tranza's character turn was kinda fucked-up (because as far as I can tell he pulled it off with pure RAGE at the end of the creepy ant-people episode and that's it), but now he's maybe the coolest Vyram when before he was the most annoying. Jetman's individual episodes continue to be excellent - Gai vs. Grey at the casino was a big highlight. Gonna finish Jetman probably this weekend, but no guarantees. I want to finish some blog stuff before I finish another series.

I really, really like Carranger. Sometimes its humor is dumb, sometimes it's inspired, and sometimes it's so off the wall that I struggle to explain it. This is how you do a self-aware parody series.

I binged HARD on Liveman a few weeks ago, then got grossed out by the pregnancy episode. It's weird. Dunno when I'll get back on that wagon. I also think I don't like 80s Sentai as much as 90s or 2000s Sentai; the storytelling is weak and the action is sorta dated, even though the suit work and visual design are often quite good.

(in part responding to the above poster) Gingaman feels like another interpretation of Zyuranger, but with worse mecha and a better story. Fantasy themed, RPG-ass clothes, special quest episodes to obtain weapons, mecha are sentient gods, etc. I think I like Gingaman more than Zyuranger, mostly because none of the Gingamen are as annoying as Dan and there are way, way fewer whiny children.

Tranza's rage puberty was pretty neat, but I kind of got tired of him after so long. You may continue to like him until the end, but eventually, he lost me.

Yeah, that wasn't the best of episodes for Gingaman. But it's still an amazing series.

Anyway got through a little bit more of Magiranger and Maskman. I'm going to put Maskman on hold right now to gather my thoughts, but it's still pretty bad. Kiros was cool, but that's it.

I will admit though, Magiranger has grown on me, it's not a great series and I wouldn't definitely count it as a favorite(it's actually ranked pretty low), but it's alright, I do get enjoyment from it.

In terms of maskman, I dont know why, but there's something about that made me like it. Maybe it was the chessiness of 80's sentai. Maybe it was the music and trends, but I found it awesome and I personally enjoyed it, especially for its concept. Magiranger, however, I agree, is ranked pretty low for me. The biggest issue being the team themselves. If they're not boring, then they're underwhelming from a terrible leader and characters that are just bleh.

I don't know what it is, but I feel like nothing happens in Maskman unless something major comes up, like the intro of Galaxy Robo or the Jet cannon/Kiros, it's just plain boring and so generic. I know it's beloved by classic fans, but I can't find anything extremely good with it. I think my opinion of Maskman is kind of like how people view Megaranger a lot of the time.

But I'll agree, Magiranger would've been much better with better characters and if they cut down on the unrelated, overused nonsense

I will agree that maskman doesnt really have anything happening in the sentai, probably a lot less than I thought, but I still think more things happen than in ninninger. And its funny about the flaws that you brought up with both maskman and magiranger because those flaws altogether were the major problem that I had with Zyuranger. I really feel like very little happens in Zyuranger and the characters are some of the most painfully BLAND characters that I've ever seen period. Like Magiranger, Zyuranger was a painfully average sentai, but at least magiranger had a little bit more interesting things than it. But maskman is okay in my book. I personally put it under jetman, liveman, gokaiger, and megaranger. Its tied honestly with shinkenger though. I say this because I skimmed through it a second time and start noticing more problems than in the first time around.

I actually prefer Zyuranger to both shows, lol. Zyuranger isn't the best of Sentai, but the mythos it built and ideas it introduced to Super Sentai were great. Not to mention I think it has some of the best choreography Sentai has ever had, thanks to the great Kazuo Niibori.

But yeah, the issue I have with is the characters. I will admit in Maskman I really do love Akira, Kenta and Momoko, but Takeru doesn't really interest me as a Red and Haruka is one of the blandest characters I've ever seen in Sentai, ever. And Magiranger they act too childish for my taste, aside from Urara and when Makito get serious they are solid, but Kai, Tsubasa and Houka are just eh.

When it comes to Zyuranger, Im glad you liked it, because Zyuranger has probably got to be one of the most average toku shows I've ever seen. I honestly cant blame people if they think MMPR is better because frankly, I do think its better. For Maskman, I do agree, haruka is like Nagi, extremely bland, though I did like episode 44? (I think thats what episode it was). and for Magiranger, I hated makoto. I couldnt take him seriously at all. Like I said before, I wanted tsubasa to be red as he is the one I can take the most seriously thus making him my favorite character in magiranger

Zyuranger's not great or really good, but it's kind of underrated. I think it's good, but it isn't as bad as people say it is.

I'm kind of indifferent to Tsubasa, I find him to be a jerk personally. Both Yellows that I'm watching haven't really impressed me.

Him being a jerk does kind make him more qualified for being the red. He's enough of a jerk to be taken seriously, but at the same time knowing that he wont brag about it like Kai or just stop trying all of a sudden to be the cool brother like makoto.

Zyuranger underrated? Not really, In fact, in some of the other sentai forums, people love to talk about it because of how it created MMPR and how its overall superior to it.

Well, from what I've seen it's kind of bashed on for being too kid-focused and being boring. These might be true but it isn't as bad as people say it is.

I'd personally have Urara be MagiRed, she keeps her cool and has shown the most leadership out of the team.

The idea of Zyuranger being kid-friendly was already predetermined because of the fact that the previous sentais Jetman, Fiveman, and Turboranger werent hitting their target demographic, with the 3 mentioned clicked more with the teens and adult audience than the kid demographic that it intended. We got to remember that this was at the time when sentai was a family show and not a commercial that was literally meant JUST to sell toys. So they decided to make zyuranger and while it got the targer kids, the teen and adult (the other half of the family) audience just left and felt like Zyuranger played it too sade, which I heavily agree on. Also with the fact that the ratings werent that great, especially when compared to jetman.

Also there's something about Urara that urks me. I cant exactly explain it, but she just does for some reason

Yeah, I'm aware of the whole Zyuranger appeal thing. Jetman was more serious in it's tone.

I can see why, Urara is often the member that people don't really talk about either. I also do enjoy Hikaru/MagiShine, he's my favorite sixth alongside BoukenSilver.

Hikaru was a great character. He actually was a character that broke the monotony a little bit. Plus the fact that he had that train mecha makes me like him a little bit

Zyuranger may not be the most well written show, but it is my third favorite Sentai series because it is one I can sit down and randomly watch any episode and enjoy it. I can not say the same for most Sentai series, even the ones that are better written. For example, Abaranger is a better dino series from a writing standpoint, but I really need to be in the mood to watch Aba. There are also episodes I can't stand watching without having watched a few others first (such as the anime fishing episode). However, both series strike a perfect balance of being kid friendly while telling a story for a more mature audience.

Maskman is just so dry and uninteresting to me. The blue ranger is the only character I actually like and I really am not a fan of the villains or their monsters of the week. There are some really good aspects of the show and I can see why people love it, but it isn't for me.

But then, that is an issue for me with 80s Sentai in general. The first one I saw was Liveman and every series afterwards felt just like Liveman, whereas all of the series from the 90s feel different enough from each other to me.

The thing about Zyuranger for me, is that to me, It's like ninninger, but more tolerable. The fact that zyuranger honestly gives me no reason to care about anyone except for burai, who isnt even in the sentai for long. He's the only character that goes through any change or has any depth. At least maskman has more than 1 character that has some sort of depth. But Zyuranger actually makes me unfortunately remember the year of Power Rangers Samurai and Megaforce: The PR seasons with practically no depth whatsoever. But I can see why you dont like maskman. It isnt for everyone

For 90s sentai, I can really say much about it since I've only seen Jetman, Zyuranger, and Megaranger of the 90s sentai. Ive heard great things about Dai and Gingaman so I might have to check it out after I watch gobusters with my friend. Oh dear lord help me. I hope that it isnt as bad as people make it out to be

I like Zyuranger better than MMPR. Witch Bandora was a pretty good villain and I did feel sorry for her character. She had a reason to hate the Zyurangers and her goal to kidnap children to bring back her son was pretty well done in my opinion. Rita on the other hand was nothing more then a generic villain who wanted to take over the world just because. I find MMPR to be a pretty terrible show, but I still respect it for having a pop culture impact in the 90's and is very nostalgic to me. I can still admit that the show has aged like milk outside the refrigerator.

Oh yeah. Bandora and her crew are classic villains.

See, that I have to disagree on. Yeah, Boi, Goushi, and Dan got short changed on character arcs, but we still got some great stuff from them, especially with Goushi. We learned about the tragedy of his sister and then we he did in the episode when Geki was blinded by the temptation of being able to keep Burai alive. They were all likable characters and their personalities bled through their actions. Burai just had the strongest presence because it was the first time Toei was doing a full on sixth ranger show and his arc cross paths with Geki.

Bandora and her crew were also developed quite well, albeit at a slower pace and it was done a lot more subtly.

It's kind of funny, but I end up equating Zyu, Dai, and Kaku to Gundam, Zeta, and ZZ. They might be two different mediums, but they both share similar qualities in each of those series.

I remember watching the first few episodes of Zyuranger and I could barely get through watching it. I fell asleep after that because I found nothing interesting about it. Sentai in general has left me unimpressed and haven't watched a show fully in 2-3 years. I have heard good about Zyougher, but the franchise has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Except for the episode with Ghost, Zyuohger is easily the best show since Gokaiger. It has been pretty solid despite the ugly mecha and the lack of any character out of Naria.

Just watched Ninninger vs ToQger and it was actually a really good movie (I love ToQger, but I can't say I was expecting much from this). The film had a great balance of both teams and all its members - yeah the main story was red-centric, but the most memorable bits of the movie were actually with all the other characters. The villain was great, the Zyuohger cameo was brilliant (if completely detached from the rest of the film) and the mecha battle was honestly one of the best ones Sentai has done in ages.

However the film did seem weirdly low-key, especially on the ToQger side of things. There were no appearances from Conductor, Wagon, Gritta or any of the Ninninger villains except Kyuuemon, Ticket and the ToQ kids only had 10 second cameo appearances, there was no Hyper ToQ mode and only a very minimal appearance from Chozetsu AkaNinger as well. It was a good movie, but with all that in mind it did make me wonder how last minute the whole thing was.

Contemplating re-watching Gingaman.
I watched it long long ago(not 20th century), but recently got the urge to re-watch after so many years.
That henshin soundtrack is awesome. :D

I'm finishing up watching Gingaman right now - interesting watching it along side Zyuohger - both being animal based.

I've been watching each series in order all the way through (or all of the dubbed episodes) and thought it was quite a set up story and effects-wise. The villain factions (another parallel with Zyouhger) were also an effective way to keep things interesting throughout the series and were very distinct from each other. They even had a not very annoying kid sidekick. Of the series I've seen in full, this one is going to fall in the top half dozen I think.

On to GoGoV

Started Go-Busters yesterday. Got up to Episode 4. I've never enjoyed watching anything Sentai-related so much! It's so good to me. Fun, smart & interesting. The characters actually feel important unlike most Sentai I've seen. This season gives off the feeling that it has a plan with its story instead of just making junk up as it goes along.

I was afraid that after getting into Kamen Rider & seeing how much better it is than Super Sentai that I wouldn't be able to like Sentai anymore. But thankfully I found Go-Busters. I actually freaking react to the show when things happen. I smile, I cringe, I get sad, I get hype.

I tried Gaoranger, Boukenger, Shinkenger, Goseiger, Gokaiger, Kyoryuger & Toqger. The only one of those I wanna continue is Toqger because of how quirky & goofy it is. I had to stop all of those other ones in the first arc because I didn't care enough about the characters or the story.

Anyway, sorry for the long explanation. ^^; I just really like Go-Busters & hope to continue it soon.

So I watched the first 4 episodes to Dynaman today. They were all right, but man, the episodes still feel like they are taking forever even when subbed. Every time the mech justs forming I feel like I should be starting the next episode. Hopefully this show improves once it is cut down to 17 minutes an episode.

I watched the first disc to Kakuranger today and god I love this show. For those curious, Shout uses a white font for the subs and the names are pretty much intact for all of the Youkai and stuff. The translations themselves are all pretty accurate, although the timing on the subs at the end of episode 5 are a little off for about three lines. So far though, everything is great. The discs remain to be identical to Toho's discs as far as video and audio are concerned, which is still of no surprise to me. Oh man though, their clothing, ugh. Someone forgot to hire a fashion manager for this show.

Cut them a little slack. Rebel culture was big in Japan at the time :lol

Did they really love wearing a flannel shirt on top of an American sweat shirt that was over another flannel shirt?

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. :lol

Was American fashion in the 90's really any better though? :lol

Yes, actually! :p

When it comes to rebel culture, fashion is about breaking away from any norms possible. Standing out without looking like a total tosser. You want to break away from looking like another cog in the machine, but you also want to look tough and hip while doing so~
So double flannel and jean jackets with a bandanna is just the ticket, I guess :lol