I apologize once again for the double post.

I'm considering taking a break from watching Go-Onger after two more episodes and their movie and start watching, well, re-watching for the most part since I never finished the series, Choujyu Sentai Liveman. I'll come back and finish up on Go-Onger after I'm done with Liveman and then watch the crossover movies from Ohranger vs. Kakuranger to Go-Onger vs. Gekiranger before starting up on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 3 – Battle Fever J

https://i.imgur.com/ZGZ2Svj.png

I've always had a huge fondness for these dorks from a distance. I know that intro might sound familiar, but the same sentiment really does apply just as much. Only the Battle Fever guys are significantly dorkier than JAKQ. It probably counts as one of my usual contrarian opinions if I say I unironically love these designs? I mean, I'm not aware if there's actually any big consensus, but it kind of seems like these suits are a hard sell that only gets harder the more distance we get from 1979. I mean, they give Miss America a wig. But man, these guys just know how to stand out in a crowd, you know? Battle Japan in particular is just a straight up cool design in my book, with the red and white perfectly popping off one another, and the sweet helmet that I always thought looked like implied hair, but on looking it up, it turns out it's actually a fireball, which both makes way more thematic sense (his head is the sun, basically), and is also even more awesome. Legitimately one of my favorite Sentai suits to this day.

For that matter, the theme song is a huge favorite of mine, too. Extremely catchy, and it has maybe the most definitive possible lyric for a Sentai ever in the chorus with the whole "individually, we may be small, but together, we're invincible!" thing. Like, Goranger had kind of a similar bit, but I love that Battle Fever J specifically stresses the idea that the team can only truly get anything done as a team. That's so perfect for what these shows are all about, and that's the sort of magic I also feel in the show's premise, which isn't simply five random people, but five random people with roots from all over the globe proving that great justice is a universal language. And they've got a giant robot! Everything about this show not involving a wig is like the pinnacle of awesome!

And as for the premiere itself, I was pleasantly surprised to find it struck a really happy balance between the somewhat whimsical "serious" cool super-spy vibe of Goranger and the genuinely quite self-serious drama of JAKQ.

For the most part, it leans back into the sheer fun of the former with its overall atmosphere, even having a pretty similar routine of rounding up the gang at the start in a cool secretive way, with Battle Japan in his civilian identity running around simply flashing a thumbs up to the other guys, who all of course know exactly what this most critical of signals means without a word exchanged between them. It's more of what I liked about Goranger, where I can easily picture the kids watching this at the time seeing this stuff and dreaming of one day living life that awesomely.

But there's also the tiniest hint of real human emotion to balance that out, with Miss America being introduced as a new member of the team who loses her father to the bad guy group of the show, Egos, midway through the episode. Unlike the massacre that kicks off Goranger, time is actually spent dramatizing her grief, and while it's not more than a scene or two, it's still a nice bit of texture to the story that goes beyond what's really needed for a show like this, so I appreciated seeing it.

Overall, this was another one that left a great first impression. Hard to go wrong with a toku premiere where Kenji Ohba holds a conversation with a monkey. Once again, it's pretty easy to see how the "first" Super Sentai caught on as much as it did. And that's with the robot stuck in a hangar the whole episode! Imagine how much more awesome this series must get once that thing is in the mix! After this, I'm definitely looking forward to finding that out for myself one day, even if it won't be soon.

This could've just been the whole post honestly.

It was a very cute character introduction! I would've loved to focus soley on that one scene, but I've gotta try and be fair to people who aren't as cool as Kenji Ohba, okay? :lol

Battle Fever J is alright, I did admittedly find the ending theme a bit of a bore but it was a fun show, although possibly the wackiest and craziest I've seen so far in my opinion!

I finished Magi just before my PS 3 shipped in.

Now I'm watching all the Shout Factory episodes up to Hurri. Still need to finish Bouken and Go Busters.

Gosh, I bet you're hard to impress on a first meeting.

Somewhere, a television executive is weeping at your review of "alright."

I'm one hundred per cent on your side with this! I adore the designs for this show. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that the whole of this show might just be one of my favourites.

There you go, Marvel, that's what it would take to engage my attention, as the only person left in the world to not be emotionally invested in your movies: make a Battle Fever J film for the MCU.

Currently up to episode 9 of Liveman.

I almost forgot on how much I love the dynamic between the three main rangers of this series.

It's the best! *weeps tears of happiness*

I actually really liked that ending theme! It's understated, for sure, but that can be a great way to kinda wind down from all the excitement of the rest of the episode.

It would be hilarious to see Battle Fever J of all things revived as a globally popular mainstream blockbuster movie. But only if Miss America is still into disco! :lol

Oh, absolutely! I've seen so very few of the Marvel movies and I know so little about those characters, but even I can tell that Miss America and co. would fit in totally with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Wait, we talkin Battle Fever? Because I fucking love Battle Fever!
I've never watched it to completion, just about 7 or 8 random episodes that were on Youtube for a whopping week before being copyright claimed, but still!

It's so different, so unique, I can't help but absolutely love it!
If Battle Fever J can somehow make it into the MCU, I'd scream :lol

That's how I feel too!! I've never seen the final episodes either, but I watched enough of the show for it to make a huge impression on me.

There's just so much to love about it, but I always get the impression that no one knows what to do with it nowadays at Toei in regards to anniversary stuff because it's just so distinct. I just they'd celebrate it for being its own thing.

Just finished episode 43 of Liveman as well as starting episode 44.

Looks like I may have found another favorite Sentai series.

EDIT: And it looks like I won't be back to watching Go-Onger for awhile since I got my DVD sets of Jetman and Megaranger from Amazon not too long ago. Admittedly, I kind of want to re-watch one or both shows at some point anyway. Will be doing this right after finishing up on Liveman.

:thumb:

Liveman is the show that I could finally say ''OK, yes, I do prefer that to Boukenger'', I weirdly felt like I somehow missed Japan in the late 80s after watching it during which I had neither been born or lived there! :lol

Liveman is certainly a work of art. You clearly have good taste. :p

Why, thank you. ;)

It's thanks to Gokaiger that I've taken an interest in Liveman as well as Jetman in the first place through their tribute episodes and now both of those shows are among my favorite Sentai series right alongside Megaranger, Timeranger, Dairanger, Magiranger, and Gekiranger.

Speaking of Jetman, I'm currently at the fourth disc of that series' DVD set.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 4 – Denshi Sentai Denziman

https://i.imgur.com/OLpbiCr.png

I basically don't have any interesting preconceived opinions on Denziman to share? I think the most intense thinking I've ever done about the show might honestly have just been trying to decide if I wanted to spell it Denjiman or not for this post. Outside of that, it's always been little more than THE "default" Super Sentai show in my mind. Like, those first three shows are this weird little trilogy in my head, where Toei hadn't totally worked out a formula yet and thus tried radically different approaches each time, and then Denziman simply is the formula they landed on.

I can't tell you what makes this show unique with my surface-level knowledge, but I can easily point to the great number of tropes now considered completely integral to the franchise that either originated here, or at least really started to take root. The "____ Sentai" title formula. The "____man" sub-formula that would prove popular for a time. The specific style of the visors on the costumes. The big robot that now transforms. Proper transformation devices. Heck, I think this is even the first instance of whimsical theme naming for the main cast, with each of them having their color represented in their family name. It's really a groundbreaking show in a lot of ways, and unlike when Toei tried to follow up Goranger's popularity with JAKQ, Denziman's own success paved the way for Super Sentai to become the juggernaut of a constantly ongoing franchise it is to this day.

Looking back at it from my admittedly shallow point of view, though, I think all that innovation has always worked against getting me to see anything interesting about Denziman itself. I could perhaps best sum it up by saying the suits have always looked to me like a generic off-brand Sentai you'd see in other media (compare this to my glowing opinions on the Goranger designs), and I feel bad about even thinking that as though it were a negative, because all that thought does is prove how much influence Denziman had on the franchise's direction going forward.

As for the first episode, though? Well, it lines up with everything I just said rather nicely, as it turns out. This is a premiere that Toei has basically made again countless times over the years. It's 1980 now, and spies are way lamer than awesome sci-fi adventure movies, so say goodbye to highly-trained special operatives fighting against criminal syndicates, and hello to ordinary civilians recruited to stop an invading space empire. It's a drastic shift when you stop to think about it, and I have to commend Denziman's premiere for how bulletproof it is. Again, I could decry it as "generic", but flip that around, and I can praise it for creating a framework so perfect it can still be used largely unchanged decades later.

There's not much in the way of deep dramatic substance and characterization, the way the previous two shows made an effort to fit in, and it's not quite as bombastic as Goranger's introduction (it is extremely hard to top the audacity of the Black Cross murder montage), but it effortlessly establishes the threat of the villains, gives us a broad idea of where the characters come from in life, and gets them suited up early enough to have pretty much the entire back third of the episode be all action, all the time. You wanna talk future Sentai staples, they even manage to get an entire giant robot fight in the premiere, which isn't always something you can take for granted, even today.

I'm not like, pumped up about Denziman after watching the first episode, exactly, but I'm nodding respectfully in its direction now, if that makes sense. This is a really nice, straightforward premiere that moves a pretty brisk pace. Throw in the fact that the Denzimen were recruited by way of an intelligent robot dog, and you've got the makings of a pretty entertaining show here. It definitely seems like something that would've grabbed the attention of kids at the time, especially.

As a Liveman fan I approve. :rock:
So Guardian, what was it like seeing a early 20s version of Takeru's dad cosplaying as a lion and kicking ass and your thoughts on the big bad boss of the show being the voice behind Tojitendo's ruler?

So is R.I.C./Murphy K9 a callback to this? That's pretty neat if so!

I couldn't tell you! If I had to guess, I'd imagine the robot police dog was mostly a concept they arrived at naturally from Dekaranger's premise, though. The flavors are pretty different between them. The dog in Denziman is simply played by a Chow Chow running around, for starters.

Probably not cause they are cops and K9 dogs are a thing so it probably came natural to them. If I had to connect the dots though the farthest I will go is that Murphy is a subtle nod to Arthur G6, their robot nanny from Fiveman. Both have matching naming schemes and also transform into heavy artillery for the rangers to use. Color scheme is somewhat similar too both having a white base coat and black details.

You can tell Marvel had a hand in the show by how the main villain looks like Thor’s evil sister (I forget her name)

*puts on Norse myth hat and cloak* Hel, who traditionally was one of Loki's children, not his sister.

*goes back up the snowy mountain until summoned once more*

Started watching Hurricanger, and jeez, between this and Kakuranger, it really makes Ninninger look so flat and lacking in terms of style.

Each to their own, I seem to be the only person that both didn't like Kyoryuger but didn't actually mind Ninninger on the whole(lol).

I have now finished Flashman (wow, that ending was only marginally less sad than Timeranger!) and now have decided to watch in a slightly odd pairing: Denjiman and for a bit of a break from Sentai possibly in a more limited capacity finally finish a Metal Hero show, I went for Shaider because the weird stuff has always seemed interesting and funny to me!

My gripe with Ninninger is the pacing, other than that art direction is great for that show. Kyoryuger I liked cause Nossan/Kyoryu Blue is GOAT and was a nice back-to-basics after the more experimental Go-Busters.
Ah, Flashman. Yes, that ending. And their civilian clothes are awesome, a very retro 80s sci-fi aesthetic they got going. Star Condor is dope, reminds me of the Concorde jet but mounted on top of a tank. Personally the rolling Vulcan scene is always fun to see, great BGM for it too. They basically took what Changeman did and made it better. And I love how their grunts have a mildly grotesque fireant quality to them.

Got to watch EP1 of ZenkaiRed's special and goddamn it's so unfair to both Zyuran and Kaito for now, lol. I imagine both get suit upgrades maybe? Cuz so far ZenkaiRed acts and feels cool (reminds me of Marvelous somewhat), and uses a goddang Geartlinger beam bayonet.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DpJgk_6feKM/hqdefault.jpg

Where is the Zenkai Red special up at?

You can torrent it as Nyaa.si

Haven't seen Maskman nor Zenkaiger. Sorry. :(

You mean Kamen Rider Ghost, no? Cause Joh/Yellow Lion from Liveman is played by Kazuhiko Nishimura aka Takeru's dad Ryu Tenkuuji in Ghost. But now that you mention it, he did have a small role in Maskman as one of the staff members who make the Maskman's tech.

Ah, okay.

Admittedly, I haven't seen any of the Kamen Rider series either outside of the first ten episodes of Kamen Rider Black, half of Kamen Rider Amazon and even the first two episodes of Kamen Rider Ryuki. My bad. :(

Kind of cool to know though.

Apologies once again for the double post.

As of last night, I finished the sixth disc of the Jetman DVD series set as well as making a bit of a return to Go-Onger on which I am now up to episodes 39 and 40.

Uggh! Why hasn't anyone subbed it yet??? :cry

I feel that. Maaaaaaaaaaan, I wish it was subbed

I am now finally finishing up on watching Jetman through the DVD series set which would my third overall viewing of the series itself in its entirety. I might start my re-watch of Megaranger through its DVD series set sometime tomorrow.

So, a few episodes after Shurikenger joins, Kabutoraiger is all "We need to support them from the darkness" and establishes that the Hurricangers should hate them?
Like, I get that the Gouraigers are stubborn, but I think that's been the weakest excuse for conflict between the teams.

Well, at the risk of overshadowing Fish’s Zenkai Tour, I’ve decided to spend the 46th anniversary (officially 45th) of Gorenger’s first episode, I decided to watch… Gaoranger vs Super Sentai.

What? I think it’s probably the best anniversary movie Sentai’s put out there. And it has a pretty spectacular climax as well.

Managed to finish Go-Onger last night. I will be watching the crossover movies from Ohranger vs. Kakuranger to Go-Onger vs. Gekiranger. Hopefully somewhere down the line I will finally start my re-watch on Megaranger via the DVD series set. After that though not necessarily in the case of the latter, it's onward to Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.