So I’m on episode 33 of Gekiranger. It’s not bad, by any means, but I’m wondering, other than the obligatory movie callback, why is this here? In the middle of a larger arc to which it’s largely unconnected? It feels pointless.

Finally managed to finish Gekiranger. And let me tell you, I don’t think this show deserves the US-given title of “the best Sentai”. It’s far from the worst, don’t get me wrong, but there were a lot of issues I had with the storytelling and aesthetic, and a lot of the praises people sing about the show didn’t show through in my eyes.

Updates

Zyu (Beast) Ranger (Completed)
Dai (Great) Ranger (Complete)
Kaku (Hidden) Ranger (Episode 36)
Oh (King) Ranger (Episode 21)
Car Ranger (Completed)
Mega Ranger (Episode 25)
Ginga (Galaxy) Man (Episode 15)
Go Go 5 (Episode 07)
Time Ranger (Episode 14)
Gao (Growl) Ranger (Episode 06)
Hurricane Ranger (Episode 12)
Aba (Outburst) Ranger (Episode 16)
Deka (Detective) Ranger (Episode 26)
Boukenger (Adventure) Ranger (Episode 14)
Geki (Fierce) Ranger (Completed)
Go On (Completed)
Samurai (Completed)
Planet Ranger (Completed)
Pirate Ranger (Episode 27)
Go Busters (Episode 13)
(Dinosaur) Ranger (Episode 14)
To Quger (Episode 14)
Ninja Ranger (Episode 12)
Wild Prime (Episode 05)
Kyu Ranger (Episode 10)
Lupin Pat (Episode 07)
Ryusoul (Episode 09)

Pardon the extra post but my watch list was getting full.

The 40th has shipped so I will soon be watching this.

I had finally got to the end of Armor Hero XT which had become a bit of a chore towards the end mainly due to the voice actor for Alice's mother being really annoying, plus the storyline of the second half was disappointing, so now I've decided to finally go back and finish Goseiger this time, sorry to be a cliche but wow, what an improvement that is! :lol

Currently watching

Aba (Outburst) Ranger and Magi on DVD having started them on stream.

@ wentwood: how the heck do you watch so many shows at the same time? Jeez.

Anyways, just finished episode 22 of Lupinranger vs Patoranger. I'm really enjoying this show. The team vs team dynamic keeps it much more interesting than just watching the team fight the monster week after week. I like Noel as a character, but honestly....this was one of the few Sentai I've seen where I wasn't just waiting for the extra ranger to show up. In fact, he could have shown up a lot later and I wouldn't have minded. Still, I think this is on track to becoming my favorite Sentai, and I can't wait for when the time comes that the police actually find out the lupinranger's identities.

Btw, I've heard people say that this show puts way too much focus on the Lupinrangers at the expense of the Patorangers, but I just don't see it. Sure, the Lupinrangers get more focus, but they're still relatively balanced - especially now with Noel around.

PS I ship Sakuya and Umika.

Finally managed to locate the Berndadelta Subs version of Battle Fever J, since a major reason I was turned off the last time was how awful Love and Care subs (irony right there, folks) take on it was. That, how trippy it was and it broke my iPad while watching it.

It’s still pretty trippy, but the better quality of the subs make it easier to get into. It’s actually pretty good so far, with an arc in the first 5 episodes about Team Battle Fever’s latest air weapon (which appears suspiciously humanoid) and Egos trying to discover the secret so they can replicate it. I can see where this is going.

I'm almost finished with Deka (Detective) Ranger on DVD.

31 of 50

I have now finally seen the last 20 or so episodes of Goseiger and I'm glad I put myself out to finish it, but I'm sorry to say it probably still holds the spot for my least favourite sentai but only really by default and Go-Onger and Kyoryuger are still close! I don't think you can really make the same claim of it being ''underrated'' in the same way as Kamen Rider Kiva, seeing as Goseiger's problems are more pronounced. The last villain group were a much bigger threat than the Yuuma Beasts in my opinion and it was interesting how the tone managed to be somehow a bit cheesy but dark at the same time but the characters weren't really too likeable in my opinion and I found Right a lot more rounded than Alata. But to end on a positive note, I still probably like it more than either part of Megaforce and most interestingly it now means I've finished all of 2004-present!

I’ve started a rewatch of Gingaman. It’s done by a writer and producer whose contributions to Kamen Rider are incredibly lauded, but have never clicked with me. Which is why I’m surprised I still liked this. Kobayashi isn’t trying to be controversial, Taketera isn’t trying to be groundbreaking. It’s just a fairly by the Numbers show with a lot of emotion.

I'm now trying to finish Abaranger. I suppose I would say it is roughly on a par with Dino Thunder or a tiny bit better for me, though I forgot about the wackiness but I did feel a bit bad when Emiri got turned into the pig and I now have to wait to see when its resolved, I mean it's like when JDF wasn't in Dino Thunder it felt a bit flat, I think AbarePink should have been a real thing too!

Currently watching Zyuranger.

Planned watchlist

Dairanger
Kakuranger
Ohranger
Jetman
Megaranger

Abaranger is alright so far but I do have the odd moment where I think ''What am I watching?!''
Attachment 58700

Finished Zyuranger started Dairanger

Who thought it was a good idea to let children raise dinosaurs? That isn’t going to go over well.

All the Zyurangers die and ascend to heaven what makes Burai dying 8 episodes early so special?

ETA: Also omg the Zyurangers promised the sweet old grandma who believed in them when no one else did that they would celebrate her birthday every year but as soon as they put Bandora and her gang in an urn they’re like “peace!” Lying assholes.

Dairanger really had the balls to rip off the Imperial March huh? I remember Dragon Ball Kai got in trouble for its compose ripping off various Hollywood soundtracks and Toei had to quickly replace the score with the old music. Did copyright not exist in Japan in 1993?

I'm starting up Abaranger and after so long of not watching Sentai, this just makes me think "where's Ultraman when you need him?"

https://i.imgur.com/S5c2WzJ.jpg

That's a really cute TV.

Just wait for episode 8.

Gokia Ranger (Episode 29)

I shipped in

Shinken and Go Busters from Brazil. Also Bouken.

Will resume To Qu forward soon as Go Busters is done. Will need to stream Kyo (Dino Charge)

I'm about 4 episodes off finishing Abaranger now, might watch one or two of the teamups too though may have seen them years ago! I think then just for a change I might try watching Hurricanger and Gingaman simultaneously, vaguely like before I had multi-channel TV when Fox Kids UK used to do ''Power Lunch'' where it would show one from each of certain shows. I think at this point in time I do seem to be in a mostly sentai mood, especially considering I have finished most Power Rangers and Heisei Kamen Riders and the quality of sentai can sometimes seem a bit more consistent IMO(is that a controversial opinion? LOL)

Finished Dairanger, mixed feelings about the “plot twist” with the Gorma Emperor and the trio all being mud dolls including Shadam. (Is Kou half mud doll? Did the real Shadam father Kou and Akomaru 10 year prior and then died?) but otherwise fantastic series, much better than Zyuranger and I enjoyed Zyuranger!

One thing that bothered me is the implication that Kou and Rin got married. Kou having a little kid crush on Rin because she reminded him of his mom? Adorable. Rin marrying the kid she basically raised as a son? Ewww gross. Granted they never came out and said it but she was asked about him in the epilogue. Hopefully it’s more like a parent being asked about a child than a wife being asked about her husband.


On to Kakuranger!

Completed

Zyu
Dai
Kaku
Car Ranger
Deka
Geki
Go On
Shinken Ranger
Gosei
Gokia Ranger

Currently watching

Oh
Mega Ranger
Ginga
Go Go 5
Time Ranger
Gao
Hurri
Aba
Magi
Bouken
To Quger
Nin
Zyu Oh
Lupin Pat
Koy
Ryu Soul

Just got Bouken and Go Busters on DVD. Finishing Gokai. Gokai on DVD. My Blu Ray player does Region 2 DVD.

Adding Kaku , Deka and Gokia to my finished list as I'm almost done with these 3.

After about *checks watch* two years, I’ve finally finished Timeranger.

And hoo boy do I have mixed feelings. I guess that should go without saying, considering how long it took me to finish it. When it’s good, it’s top-tier Sentai excellence. Like, seriously, the last (roughly)15 episodes are just so goddamn good. When it’s bad... well, it’s about as boring as Sentai has ever been. Just one interminable filler episode after another. It makes it real hard to watch.

The show starts strong before quickly losing all steam. It takes about 20 more episodes to get remotely interesting again. From there, it pretty much alternates between good and bad until the endgame, which consists of roughly 15 consecutive episodes of nonstop excellence.

That makes it, hands down, the most Yasuko Kobayashi-run show of all Yasuko Kobayashi-run shows. That woman is the queen of the strong start, boring AF middle, and stunning final stretch.

Stray thoughts:

- So much of this show feels like a practice run for Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kobayashi’s first KR series. She’ll go on to refine all of Timeranger’s best elements in that show, right down to literally having the exact same final sequence.

- Time Fire is the best 6th Ranger, and I will fight anyone who disagrees.

- This show would have been so much better had Toei bothered to dust off the film prints and remaster it.

- Domon’s sideburns grossed me the fuck out every single time I saw them.

- I did not expect to become so invested in Yuuri and Tatsuya’s romance, but their final goodbyes left me in a puddle of tears.

- Sentai series, IMO, are only as good or bad as their main villains. I definitely thought that Don Dornero and his crew was Timeranger’s primary weakness for about 42 episodes, but then... well... I was proven oh so very wrong. I was not prepared for them to become one of the best parts of the show.


Overall, I’d say I thoroughly enjoyed Timeranger. Its mind-numbing start and middle made for an occasionally difficult watch, but the endgame was rewarding enough to be worth the effort.

That last post is fitting, since I’ve just watched the Timeranger tribute in Gokaiger.

I didn’t like it.

Now, I haven’t liked Gokaiger, or most of its tributes (I can name 5 I don’t have any problems with: Carranger, Boukenger, Jetman, Ohranger and Go-Onger and the former is a series I didn’t really like) but this was the first I felt where they were really phoning it in. The episode has precious little to do with anything about Timeranger beyond the superficial element of time travel (and even then, it contradicts the rule Timeranger set down that they can’t go more than 1000 years back in time from the start point), mostly just being a rather poor random events plot.

This makes me curious -- which subs did you use? The official SHOUT ones?

I started with the Over-Time subs, then transitioned to the Shout Factory ones. The video quality was poor in both.

The reason for this is... all Sentai from Gorenger through the very beginning of Carranger was shot and mastered on film.

Then, from the rest of Carranger through Timeranger, the show was still shot on film, but it was mastered on analog SD tape. These seasons, frankly, look like garbage, which is a huge bummer. It’s strange to watch episodes of JAKQ that look great... and then to watch Timeranger, a show made over 20 years later, and have it look like crap.

Starting with Gaoranger, the shows started being mastered on digital SD tape. These shows look fine, but the quality isn’t as good as the earlier series that were mastered on film.

Starting with Boukenger, they continued shooting on film, but they mastered on HD video. These, IMO, are the best looking shows, just because of the character of the film and the clarity of the HD video. The show moved to shooting in HD video and mastering to HD video with Shinkenger, and has been doing that ever since. Obviously these shows look great, but as a fan of film, there’s just not as much richness and character to the picture.

Huh. That's... interesting, and certainly not in a good way; especially for seasons as celebrated as Carranger, Megaranger and Timeranger. That's a huge shame.

Of SHOUT and Over-Time which would you say had the better subs? I assume SHOUT since you switched over and kept with them?

Yeah, it really sucks. Toei would have to re-telecine the original film prints (which, at this point, are probably vinegar-syndromed to hell), completely reedit every episode using the analog masters as a guide, and do extensive color correction in order for us to ever get something better. Needless to say, that's an expense Toei will likely never go for.

You know what else sucks? I said that all of the shows from Gorenger to Carranger were mastered on film, but there's one exception. That's Jetman. The only masters that exist are on analog SD tape, which is why the DVDs for that show looks so much worse than the shows surrounding it.

If Toei isn't willing to shell out the money to remaster Jetman, arguably the most respected Sentai in Japan, they're never gonna do it for Carranger, Megaranger, GoGoV, or Timeranger. It's sad.

Maybe we can hope for some sort of Blu-Ray release down the line, but I'm very skeptical.

Honestly, the translations are both pretty good. I mainly switched from OT to Shout because, 1) OT only subbed up till ep 32 before Shout announced they were releasing the series on DVD, and 2) I could stream it on my VRV Apple TV app, as opposed to playing it on my laptop connected to my TV, which made it much easier to skip the opening and closing sequences.

My only complaint about the Shout subs is the terrible, low-res font they use. But they're readable and unobtrusive enough to overlook in favor of convenience.

Yeah, even then I was just grateful to get anything Timeranger after the actual show at the time, considering at least Gokaiger attempted it as opposed to that weird situation where Gao VS Super Sentai had no-one from Timeranger, but Bouken VS Super Sentai had 2 from Magiranger! I suppose sadly it must have been a hard show to get actors back for or write what would happen after, basically like a fair few of the 2000s Kamen Rider shows. :(

I just wrapped up watching Megaranger! I had my doubts about the show at certain points, but it really managed to pull everything off in the end in spite of a few shortcomings.

The Good:
-I think this show had one of the more evenhanded handling of its main team among Sentai shows. I felt like I got to know everyone very well and I enjoyed them a lot. Kenta and Miku were my favorites.
-I actually liked the “sixth ranger” in this one, which is pretty shocking because my reactions usually vary from apathy to irritation when it comes to them. I liked the dynamic he added to the main team.
-Kubota was a great boss and I liked his connection to Dr. Hinelar.
-On that note, I LOVE the main trio of antagonists in this one. It’s really rare to have a group of antagonists that get along as well as they do, and not try and undermine each other constantly. They even became frighteningly competent later on after they offed their meddling boss! Easily my favorite villains in a Sentai.
-The various lategame episodes were usually really, really good.
-Great soundtrack!

The Bad:
-The show really dragged near the middle. I was getting bored with it for a while.
-I really would have liked to see more of Dr. Hinelar’s backstory.

I’d say this is probably my second favorite Sentai that I’ve seen so far. There was just a lot to love in this one. I’ll watch the crossover with Carranger soon hopefully, then Gingaman will be the next Sentai I try. I might rewatch Kamen Rider Blade first though, it is probably the Rider show I most desperately need to rewatch, for so, so many reasons...

Even though I do narrowly prefer In Space in general though I love both, I actually preferred Yuusaku to Zhane, I thought Yuusaku was a lot better IMO and maybe a controversial opinion but I've never been that huge on Andros other than towards the end of the show! Dr.Hinelar was a bit of a strange villain though and unfortunately sometimes I did struggle to find him a particularly large threat compared to the interesting and detailed backstory of Astronema! My favourite episode was probably the original version of ''Five of a Kind'' if I had to pick, the Nejiranger stuff in that was fun to watch! I'm currently watching Gingaman and some things are pretty cool though I'm sorry to say I am struggling a lot more with Captain Zahab, I mean I think pirates as villains was probably fine once but I can see why it didn't become much of a thing, it is a bit ''who cares''!

Megaranger is still one of my favorite Sentai out there. It's a show that pulls off all the essentials super well, and knows to hit you an episode every now and then that's just blow-your-socks-off memorable and awesome. Not to mention Kubota being the best Sentai mentor ever.

I mean, I have a lot of favorite Sentai, but not for nothing was my signature image an out-of-context Megaranger quote for... was it just one year or two? A really long time, is the point!

I wasn't terribly fond of Megaranger, but I think I'm biased against it. I watched it right off of the heels of Zyuranger, which was my first Sentai and a huge blast of Power Rangers nostalgia. Megaranger didn't have the same effect, so I thought it was kind of boring. I wonder if I'd like it more now?

Well, I’m at the end of the tribute episodes for Gokaiger, which is quite a significant reason people like the show, if that thread I started a while ago is any indication. I thought I, as someone who actually watched most of the series being homages before watching Gokaiger, would give my two cents.

The Good:

Episode 14(Carranger): Just all around a hilarious romp, with little to find any fault with. The fact that a Greater Power is actually useless is a neat idea to explain why they never use it again and there’s even an explanation for a plot hole for last episode (the bad guy took so long to catch up with them because he broke the traffic laws).

Episode 21(Boukenger): This episode perfectly captures Boukenger’s (and Akashi’s) spirit of adventure. And it takes too of my biggest issues with the show (reusing old monster suits as new monsters and the fact that most of the time, the finisher for the past team is wasted on a bunch of Mooks) and defies them (the monster this week has a new costume, but is a character from a past series and hey do use the Boukengers’ Dual Crusher on him, it just doesn’t work). And it also brings back DaiBouken (still one of the best designed Sentai Mecha, fight me), so that makes it an instant win in my book.

Episode 28 (Jetman): AKA the one that basically resulted in one fanfiction author doing a complete rewrite of Gokaiger’s plot… for a fanfiction supposedly focused on multiple teams from Super Sentai and Power Rangers, but in practice, put most of the focus on Maskman, Jetman, Dekaranger, Boukenger and Shinkenger.

But I digress, it’s a pretty good episode that handles the idea of sacrificing your happiness for the greater good incredibly well. And it’s pretty good to see Gai hand the more asshole-ish Gokaigers their asses untransformed, before getting to transform and have a solo fight scene. The monster’s personality also wouldn’t be out of place in Jetman proper, so it’s got that going for it.

Episode 31 (Ohranger): Like episode 21, it captures the spirit of its season very well, and also takes another two of my big problems with the series (that most of the pre-Hurricane veterans get a kind of reverse flanderization wherein their most prominent traits are non-existent and that Basco as a character is neither threatening nor necessary) and resolves them (Both Goro and Momo have their personalities on point and Basco takes a level in badass by turning into a monster that none of the Gokaigers can match and that even Damaras seems terrified of).

Episodes 35 and 36 (Go-Onger): Junko Komura’s magnum opus for this season. Sosuke is, as usual, a joy to watch and the usual “reusing an old costume as a new character” thing gets offset by the fact that there is a new (albeit modified from existing parts) monster altogether in this same two parter. And I would totally watch a whole show with GokaiFire.

The Average.

Episode 3 (Magiranger): The first one they did. It is a fairly good start for the tribute episodes (with the fact they get back both the CGI fire monster from MagiRed’s transformation, plus the fact they actually got Tessho Genda to voiceover a new spell for the MagiPhone), it gets weighed down by its lack of any real focus or memorable monster and is ultimately rather forgettable.

Episode 7 (Gekiranger): I wasn’t a big fan of Gekiranger when watching it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But aside from starting a trend I’ve previously stated I wasn’t fond of, plus being the one tribute episode without a special transformation sequence (one thing I think the show has going for it), it was serviceable.

Episodes 11-12 (Shinkenger): I hadn’t quite made my way through Shinkenger when I watched this two-parter. It introduces my second least favourite plot line, namely the Joe-Barizorg relationship (namely for how ultimately pointless and all over the place it is) and has another big problem I have with the series (pre-Jetman series only have one attack from their arsenal used at all, sometimes not even that, as seen here with the Dynaman being used solely for the Super Dynamite). But it still delivered on pretty much everything else and has a cool monster suit to make up for the bad stuff.

Episode 18 (Sixth Rangers)
It’s the second part of the debut for Gai Yuki, who is one of the only two characters in this show I find likeable (the other being Ahim). And after a cameo from Mikoto and two suit actors in the DragonRanger and TimeFire suits, it turns into a reparation of Shinkenger’s 18th episode, only without any of the sense that plot had (there is literally no reason for the Gokaigers to take the Go,ai Cellular, other than to be a dick). But I loved the slight clever thing they did with Gai turning into KingRanger matching the Gokaigers turning into the Gorengers for their first onscreen legend change.

Episode 20 (Gingaman): Gia’s first time in a tribute episode. Unfortunately, it has the bad luck to be a) a prexHurricane team’s time in the limelight and b) has Basco as the main villain. Aside from that, the episode is alright, especially with Gai going through the same dilemma Ryoma had back in Gingaman (that Hyuuga is better than him in every way) and the appearance of Haruhiko’s book on the Gingaman, combined with the “space pirate” jokes narrowly save this episode.

Episodes 25-26 (Hurricaneger): The good: We get to see the veterans transform, the plot features some appropriate choices for a Gokai Changes and the overall story feels like a mini VS movie. The bad: The nicer Gokaigers go out of character by refusing to give the Hurricanegers their powers back, it once again reuses old suits as new characters, the lack of any reference to the Gouraigers and Shurikenger and why the heck did they remove Furaimaru’s vocal processing effects?

Episode 29 (Abaranger): The plot with Ahim getting to do a Seven-Change is a good one, complete with a unique gimmick for a one off bad guy and the AbarePink reappearance is on point, as is the commercial break cliffhanger. But Yukito is wasted on a handful of scenes that don’t really add much, the idea of GoZyuGokaiOh is woefully underused in the rest of the season and they gave Gai a transformation sequence into AbareKiller (as one guy who watched Abaranger when it was premiering put it, part of the appeal of AbareKiller was that he didn’t have a transformation sequence, even in the crossovers)

Episode 30 (Liveman): Liveman is a show high on my list, so I naturally had some expectations for this episode. While I like the touch that the bad guy of the week is played by Joji Nakata and the reappearance of Super Live Robo, I don’t lie the shoehorning of Joe’s friend having been brainwashed being somehow comparable to the Liveman’s friends’ genuine betrayal. It just feels like the writer read a reference guide to Liveman rather than actually watching it.

Episode 33 (Dairanger): Whiel I like the touch of Ryo using Daigo and Shojis’ abilities, plus the whole untransformed battle, I felt the episode shot itself in the foot with the “you don’t need powers to win a battle” aesop by having the Gokaigers (especially Gai, who was supposed to be learning the lesson) win the battle using their powers. Whoops.

Episode 39 (Megaranger): A pretty fun episode with the return of the school from Megaranger, plus reminding us that Kenta was just a slacker, not an idiot, by having him become a teacher. Plus they have a creative use of the Timerangers’ Freeze Compression power. Unfortunately, the presence of Basco rather than a villain more appropriate to Megaranger brings it down a lot, as does the lack of a clear focus on anyone.

Episodes 45-46 (Kakuranger): The second part was definitely stronger than the first, mostly due to the fact it didn’t waste Satomi Hirose (Kakuranger’s secondary lead) in a throwaway cameo that could’ve been cut. But said second part loses some points for having a monster whose gimmick is anger, and a guest appearance by Ninjaman, yet no references to or appearances by Samuraiman. Also, why are the Kakuranger powers meant to help Ninjaman grow? He can do that on his own.

The Bad:

Episode 5 (Dekaranger): It’s clear Naruhisa Arakawa has a massive nostalgia boner for Dekaranger (just look at how many guest actors they bring back compared to any other Sentai with returning actors). This episode is where it’s at its worst, with three returning actors from the show, two of whom have no reason to be there and the main bad guy being an Alienizer instead of being one a Zangyack Action Commander. I like Dekaranger as much as the next man, but he’s written better shows. Plus the episode cemented Marvelous and Luka as being unlikeable. (Marvelous ended up redeeming himself, Luka didn’t).

Episode 9 (Gaoranger): The first episode with another major issue I have with the show, the reverse flanderization. GaoRed is virtually unrecognisable beyond being a vet and being played by the same actor. Plus the thing that gets him to come around to the Gokaigers isn’t anything they do, it’s a sappy speech from Don and Ahim, which kind of kills any moral the episode was going for.

Episode 23 (GoGoV): I have nothing nice to say about this episode. The forced nice side to Luka they instituted in this episode made me hate her further, Basco further proved how undeserving of the threat applied to him is by simply making empty threats to blow up an ambulance instead of actually doing it and some random little girl knowing Matsuri’s secret identity just pissed me off to no end.

Episode 40 (Timeranger): I’ve already made my opinions on that one quite clear in an earlier post on this thread.

Maybe controversial, but I was actually never that big a fan of Luka either! I could tolerate her at times, but I preferred Mao Ichimichi in Kyuranger and I found Aim a bit more relatable, though whether that's from a British perspective or not I don't know!

Changeman 1:

The commander feels like a cult prophet who was running a scam, but happened to be right about the thing he was BSing about. Pointing guns at people is so dumb and irresponsible. I hate him currently, but he's at least interesting (I just hope the future episodes continue his irresponsibility rather than just treating it as one-off weirdness).

Characterization is light so far, I think Black's the playboy, and Red has a sense of justice... other than that, flat. They agreed to be Changeman far too quick, considering they were all leaving beforehand.

On the upside, the mooks are awesome. The special effects are great (eggs!), really a joy to watch. I'm curious about the big boss Bazoo, and the the monster suits in general are cool and represent my favourite design era. I like that another monster is responsible for the growth method. I wonder if the Changeman will try targeting it in the future to reduce the enemies' options, but I'm guessing not.

ChangeRobo is a bit blocky, though no surprise given 80s designs. The sword being in the shield is a nice touch though.

Flashman 1:

The villains have a goal in creating the ultimate lifeform, and are going to use Earth's creatures to do it. Not a unique goal, but a clear and understandable one. I'm noticing there's a similar hierarchy to Changeman here, with a subset of villains with a leader, who answers to a boss in the shadows. I wonder if that'll be a recurring Sentai trope.

In a change of pace, the heroes are veteran space-dwellers already aware of the villains (though the villains aren't aware of them). When they see Mes headed for Earth, they decide to go protect their original home, the place they were born (against the wishes of actual aliens on the planet; makes you wonder if the rangers were abducted?). They apprehend a ship and take down a security robot (rather hilariously, by first trying to explain the morality behind what their doing TO A ROBOT, and then ejecting a CD rom from its stomach, calling it a "floppy disc". Love it, 80s cheese all over).

Again with the mooks have cool special effects. This time it's their insectoid mandibles clenching and unclenching, and shooting silly string from their maws.

The Flashman arrive on Earth, using their ships (which will inevitably combine into FlashRobo, but not in this episode!) to take down enemy ships in aerial and land combat. Lots of cool model effects! The kind you see in the first episode of a series and never again.

The rangers display a variety of civilian powers, from floating, to throwing explosive beads. While it's light on the actual fighting, it's cool to get an untransformed fight.

And even cooler when they transform! Pink, who was shown floating earlier, has crystalline boots, letting her stomp on enemies. Green has crystalline gloves, and Blue fires himself off as a projectile. Red and Yellow get the raw end of the stick with pretty basic weapons, but 3/5 unique ones ain't bad!

Starting the story in medias res was a great idea. Not having to show the heroes getting their powers gave more time to the other parts of the plot. While all the Flashman currently have the same characterization "wanted to go to Earth" with only Red being a bit more proactive and rebellious than them, it at least gave them a clear motivation, and ditto for the villains.

The special effects work isn't as visceral as Changeman, and I'd give overall points to Changeman's aesthetic, but in terms of an enjoyable watch, episode 1 of Flashman is a more engaging hook.

Maskman 1:

Maskman 1

Yup, the enemy organization structure is a recurring trend. *yawn* This one's a bit different though. While the others were almost business-like in nature, this one gives the vibe of a cult.

The hero's opening scene was interesting here. Takeru's a race car driver, his pit stop crew (the other rangers) all like him. There's a fun gag between one of the female rangers stepping on a male ranger's foot. (Although I doubt pit stop workers wear high heels...)

We're back to METAL special effects. The MOTD are beasts that have spent thousands of years in dark caves. They awaken in the dark, dripping in water.

Red's girlfriend has some previous association with the enemy, and warns Red, her boyfriend. They try to run, but his girlfriend is captured by a monster (by its tongue, lovely), handing him something as he tries to save her.

Enemy sends aerial/land troops, and then the Maskman come out of nowhere to take them out using their vehicles. The female Maskman have earrings on their helmets whic his... kinda neat. It's a unique gimmick that makes them stand out.

As it turns out, we've started In Medias Res again, like Flashman, and the Maskman already have their powers. Their origin story is glossed over, but that's fine, more ammunition for later episodes.

The tongue monster returns, and we get a cool sequence of Red Mask being dragged along the ground. Then when the monster's beaten, its severed hand lays on the ground. Awesome!

In the final scene, their mentor states they need to gain more power, setting a hook for next episode.

This is the best opening episode by far. Not only does it set up macro-mysteries (who exactly is red's girlfriend? What's going to happen with her? Who is the Maskman's mentor exactly?), but keeping the rangers in the background worked to their advantage. When the Maskman came along, I actually thought the pit stop crew might've been decoy leads. And yet, the Maskman actually feel like characters! While there hasn't been a wealth of characterization yet, there was some, and their scenes felt more natural.

So far:

Maskman has the best plotting/characterization by far, and gives me the most drive to watch more. Changeman has the worst, but also the best SFX. Flashman is more average all around, but has the most unique premise. I'm seeing writing improvement in every pilot, so I have to assume this is just a result of Soda improving! I've heard good things about Liveman's opening, so I guess we'll see. (And then Turboranger/Fiveman are in his "burn-out phase" and will be awful...? I guess we'll see that too.)

Someone associated with Super Sentai Spirits up.oared two highlight videos from 2020’s show.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qr3VzAnU37w

Yeah, this is probably pushing the meaning of this thread’s name, but I have been watching it lately and I’d like to see what others think of it.

I also really enjoyed those first Maskman eps, I should get back to that show sometime. The Tube underground evil empire thingy is such a classic cool fun sentai enemy.

I watched Super Hero Wars (Taisen) yesterday, the first movie. That was a lot of fun! It's been on my watch list since 2013, and Gokaiger is one of my fav shows, OOO too. I had lowered my expectations a bit since I've had people say to skip that movie on other forums etc.

But I really enjoyed it for what it was, just a crazy nutty spectacle, almost a "what if". I try to take these things with a grain of salt, like Captain Marvelous's strat here etc, I was entertained. And the finale with the most toku actors ever it seems was just must see.

Anybody have opinions on Super Hero Taisen Z: Kamen Rider vs. Super Sentai vs. Space Sheriff? That one worth a watch?

I started watching OhRanger and now on episode 9, the first episode after the series was retooled due to the events in Japan that happened. The change to the lighter tone can be jarring, but if you're used to older Sentai episodes nothing really changed other than it really showed how serious the first 8 OhRanger episodes were.

One thing that I noticed is that OhRanger used their bikes quite often, even compared to other Sentais, which is great because I really love the designs of the bikes. And that makes me sad considering that even current Kamen Rider struggles with bike usages due to law.

I've been plowing on with Changeman. Episode 2 didn't expand on anything more than Episode 1 really, aside from emphasizing the point that these guys are newbies, though it highlighted the man-voice female general. Episode 3 had a way-cool monster/gimmick and had some characterization (more of a side character than one of the rangers themselves, but I'll take it).

Episode 4 is wild and part of the reason I watch Sentai.

A little girl's kiss
Brings all the cats to the yard
Kingdom Death Monster