I finished Dairanger recently and the next series I have chosen to watch is Jetman. I am ripping my Shout Factory DVDs to MKV, extracting the VOBSUBS and converting them to ASS format for improved readability on an HD screen because I am insane like that.

I finished Oh today and watched 46 - 48. 14 series completed for regular episodes.

Next will be Time Ranger , Kyo Ryu and Ryu Soul to finish those 3.

I mean... since you did already buy the DVDs, you'd be morally excused if you just downloaded the fansubs. :lol ;)

I'm five episodes into Timeranger and, wow, already this show has seriously tight character drama with its main cast; an atmosphere unmatched by any Sentai I've seen so far; oh yeah, and everything about it is cool! Just a super fun show so far

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 16 – Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger

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

Aw, sweet! ...It's the Power Rangers!

I know the purists are going to be upset with me for picking such a trite opening, but like, this is the part where I talk about the existing personal significance of each of these shows to me, and there is absolutely no getting around the mammoth in the room with this one. It's impossible for me to look at those iconic suits without immediately hearing epic guitar shreddage in my head. It's not just that Zyuranger is famous abroad for its PR counterpart; it's that it's famous for being made into THE Power Rangers. The ones who used those designs for three seasons straight, and who are still showing up in new comics and what have you regularly to this day.

Truth be told, Zyuranger marks the second premiere that's actually a rewatch for me. Just like Bioman, however, it was something I saw really early on after getting into the wider toku world that's never gone beyond that one episode in all this time. I can't really tell you why? Just didn't catch my attention enough at the time, I suppose, and there wasn't even much I still remembered going back in. What makes it even stranger is that, after this revisit, I'm a little baffled I wasn't all over this show immediately enough to watch at least a little more of it?

The thing about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that I think occasionally gets buried in some of the more jaded toku fandom discourse is that it earned its extreme success with its target demographic by doing a genuinely great job capturing the kind of heightened heroic fantasy stories kids eat up, and, uh, that's also Zyuranger's whole deal, as it turns out!

Zyuranger was created to be sort of a negative Jetman – something that would return Sentai right back to its roots as a show to appeal directly to children, and let me tell you, all the complicated drama and deeper characterization in the world would have trouble competing with how beautifully direct Zyuranger is. One of the big things I know about Zyuranger, that's usually said as a complaint for some reason, is that they're always saving kids, and even right here, in the very first episode, that's immediately how the show decides to frame the stakes. It's smaller and sillier, and it's also so much more tangible and personal. It's not some big alien empire blowing up the city that requires a technological team of experts to fight; this is a story about a witch who kidnaps some children because she's a jerk, and the ancient heroes who set out to stop her, because they're ancient heroes.

Another notable shakeup in the staff happened with Zyuranger as well, as this is where a new main writer begins a fairly beloved run of shows. Noboru Sugimura made his Sentai debut with Zyuranger, and while "make it for kids" was the mission from the start, it was his love of video games that resulted in him hearing that as "make a fantasy RPG", which is where a ton of the flavor here comes from. I mean, again, the plot of the premiere is straight up about a wise elder assembling the party to go raid the main villain's castle to rescue people being held captive.

Those strong fantasy influences are among Zyuranger's biggest lasting contributions to Sentai as a whole (of which there are many; I'll throw in the obligatory mention here that this is where the Sixth Ranger concept was born), forcefully kicking the door open for a great number of other shows to not merely downplay sci-fi aspects, but completely ignore them. I get the impression this was part of why the show did find so much success with kids in Japan, but also, speaking strictly for myself here, that's something I'm pretty grateful for. (Especially the sentient mecha. That trope has always been a favorite for me.) Yeah, I mean cool organizations are cool and all, don't get me wrong, but when you start throwing around terms like "legendary warriors"? Now you've got my attention!

There's a real liveliness to this premiere, since it doesn't need to even pretend to bother with anything technical. When your primary bad guy is some crazy lady riding around on a flying bike, you don't need to explain much about the hierarchy of her group of goons or what their goal is. She was sealed in a can waiting for the day she could do evil stuff again. When your heroes have the backstory of being heroes, you don't need to explain much about them. They were sealed in some closets waiting for the day they'd be needed to fight evil again. Are you here for elaborate motivations and detailed plotting, or do you just want to see the group taking on those villains; see the heroic leader swooping in at the last minute to save his comrades; see them all save those kids moments before they fall victim to a diabolical trap?

There's no wrong answer to that question, of course. There's more than one right way to tell a story, after all. While it's hard to judge a show based on one episode, it seems clear Zyuranger's big strength is in its dedication to feeling like an adventure above all else. The premieres I've watched so far all value their own things. Some wanted to wow you with raw action. Some made an effort to grip you with compelling drama. Others were just plain trying to look cool. With Zyuranger, I think it's very specifically appealing to the viewer's sense of wonder more than anything, asking you to imagine the story as if it were an epic legend unfolding on your TV screen, to the point that the very first shot of the opening is that of a book being opened. It was a flavor that was one of a kind at the time, and it's a testament to what a good flavor it ended up being that it's had so many other shows since taking pages out of that book.

Zyuranger is one of those shows I seriously want to get to some day, mostly for its own sake. Like you said, it's impossible to ignore the how it's The Power Rangers One, and... that's always been a shame to me, because it seems like that's what the show's reputation has become? Any article covering it will give it at best a dismissive line of "some show Saban bought", and man, if only for that I wanna give it a go on its own terms and merits! Everything I've seen about it is clearly a show with a lot of heart and a lot of wonder; and frankly when it's something that revolutionised the entire Super Sentai franchise and what stories it could tell (which is saying something when Jetman only last year heightened the drama in these shows), that can't have been easy and must have taken a lot of dedication. Also, it's Zyuran's inspiration, and I really don't think I can go wrong with that! It's a show I desperately want to see talked about and given credit on its own terms, because everything about its creation and execution seems so fascinating.

That "I wanna watch it one day" line is one I've been repeating a lot, but man; Sentai really has so much good and interesting stuff out there! I can't help it! Especially one as cool as this!

Burai/Dragon Ranger = Heisenburg, but went from heel to face
Yuuma/Change Pegasus = Malcolm's dad from Malcolm in the Middle

You know, a Zyuranger (Or a general Sentai) RPG would be a game I'd be down to play.
Shit sounds fun as hell :lol

I ran a Sentai RPG for a while, and I can confirm, it was fun as hell. The mechanics for the giant robot battles are always kinda wonky, but I'm sure there are other systems out there that work a lot better.

Wish I could've been a part of that!

I will say though Toei solidifying the tsuika senshi(which they dabbled with in Maskman with their bangai senshi X-1 Mask) trope with this show was a great move. Burai/Dragon Ranger is just a great character and I think was great for Shiro Izumi to take the role. And I make Bryan Cranston comparisons constantly when it comes to Burai but I can't help it. :lolol
I mean when you got someone who played Yuuma/Change Pegasus, the ranger who cracks up on karaoke and talks with a kansai dialect because comedy, 7 years later play a tragic character? It's just too hard to pass.

You have my attention.

Zyuranger is a show that maybe one day I'll revisit, since I didn't exactly have the best experience nor was I in the best of moods back when I first saw it.

I never felt that the show was by any means bad, but I did feel it was a major letdown after all the hyping up it had gotten from the Sentai hardcores who saw it as the "much more mature and sophisticated" version of MMPR.

(Which is also hilarious to me given its actual subject matter.)

It's also the show that makes me stand up for SHOUTs Sentai subs, because while they aren't the best you'll find, they're WAY better than the old bootleg subs I had to endure when watching Zyuranger like... 10-ish years ago.

It can definitely feel like that's the one big thing Zyuranger is known for sometimes, for sure. It certainly has its fans, especially since it IS part of that Sugimura lineup that a lot of Sentai fans go nuts for, but even there, it gets overshadowed by other things. I suppose the more positive spin on it is that maybe Zyuranger gets taken for granted specifically because it's just *that* fundamental and core to nearly everything two different franchises have been doing ever since? Like, it is absolutely at least as important as Jetman on that front.

It's a franchise that's enjoyed the kind of success and longevity most TV shows can't even dream of! I know Zenkaiger was the right time to do what I'm doing, because if I had waited even just for the next five years, the currently airing show would probably run out of episodes before I ran out of older shows to cover. :lol

I had the same thought reading about that, except my ideal fantasy toku RPG is themed after Kamen Rider Saber, because I'm very predictable that way. :p

Yeah, that... that definitely doesn't sound like the best environment to be watching the show in. Decent(ish) subs and taking the series more on its own merits would probably do a ton to improve your outlook on it, if you ever did decide to give it that second chance.

Since we are in that era now, in fact (though I could have mentioned this at Jetman...) do you have any experience with Shout's official subs here, Fish? And are they what you're using? I've heard the quality has been spotty with them in places and that some like Hurricaneger outright rip off fansubs, so I'm curious to know what your experience with them is if any

Yes and yes! I guess this is a "spoiler", but on top of planning to watch all the Shout-released premieres using those subs, I've seen Kakuranger in full already, and... they're, as I described, "decent(ish)"

There's a tendency to sort of "compress" the dialogue in a way that's hard to describe, but basically, there's not as much flavor retained as I'd like. There were also some very occasional timing errors and stuff that makes them come off a little rushed, and perhaps some other random problems I had here or there that I've since forgotten, but I don't recall hitting any lines that were outright difficult to understand or anything, which is a big plus. Kakuranger's rapid fire witty dialogue is also maybe more demanding than usual, for what its worth?

On the other hand, I went and rewatched one of my favorite Gingaman episodes with the official subs once and remember being quite disappointed in various spots. Much less seriously, their version of that Megaranger quote I used to have as a signature image wasn't anywhere near as funny out of context. :p

I dream of a world where everything can have subs as good as the original Kamen Rider and Kuuga both have now, but what I've seen of Shout's Sentai releases doesn't drive me anywhere near as insane as stuff like what we have for Gridman right now, so, yeah, again, "decent(ish)". Serviceable, but probably not anything more than that.

I have finally finished Ninninger. Now, it's onward to Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger.

I'm currently up to episode 19 of Zyuohger and I can see the series could've made a pretty decent adaptation as a season (or two) of Power Rangers. I'm also really liking The World's introductory arc.

I finished Oh a few days ago.

Now I'm on Ginga (Galaxy) Man so I'll be finishing Saban Era I through Time Ranger thanks to Shout Factory. So I'm thinking resume from there for now.

I'm nearly half done with Time Ranger. I'm close to Quantum Ranger's (Time Fire) entry point in the series. I saw Time Ranger's version of Lovestruck Rangers recently.

Pretty much did a Marathon of Zenkaiger over the past several days. It's a fun show! There's a lot of little quirks that make me like it, the comedic timing, the interactions, even the villains. Real good show, glad to be caught up!

Because now I can watch it weekly instead of putting it off! Putting it off any longer and I might've not had the motivation to try and go for that long. lol

Just finished episodes 28 and 29 of Zyuohger. I seriously love the two-part crossover with Gokaiger. It's great to see this particular Sentai team again since their crossover movie with the Go-Busters. Really looking forward to seeing the 10 year anniversary movie later this year.

I absolutely love how often this show makes me laugh out loud. Granted all Super Sentai series have humorous situations, but the general feeling of fun in Zenkaiger is absolutely palpable.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 17 – Gosei Sentai Dairanger

https://i.imgur.com/rNnrlB9.png

I get the impression Dairanger is a pretty beloved series by die-hard Sentai fans. It's another one I basically only ever see brought up in the context of glowing praise. The Sugimura era is loved for a couple of shows in particular from what I can tell, and this is without question one of them.

The thing is, I didn't think the premiere was all *that* great as I was watching it, but sure enough, it only took a little bit of thinking to realize what was going on there.

See, much like Jetman and Zyuranger before it, Dairanger was still making some pretty massive strides when it came to pushing Sentai in new directions; it's just that it did it in a subtle enough way, and did it so successfully, that it took me a second to figure out all these things my brain was filing under "been there, done that" were things that I haven't actually seen up to this point in the tour. The shows I was subconsciously comparing it to all came after, and once I recognized that, I recognized how big this show kinda is.

Super easy example – Ryou; Ryuu Ranger, otherwise known as our Red for the show. He's just some random dude working a completely ordinary job at a restaurant, who gets caught up in events and ends up becoming the last member to join the team. The premiere is essentially his origin story, told from his perspective as he involves himself in this crazy new world of fantasy and adventure. Big deal, right? Having Reds who don't fit the traditional image of a leader is totally common, and having them join the group late is basically its own trope at this point. And it is! ...after Dairanger started it.

It's so fundamental now that I took it for granted, but basically every Red prior to Ryou was made out to be the most charismatic, or the most brave, or the most skilled, or the most powerful, or the most passionate, or sometimes all of those at once. Ryou, as he's presented in the first episode, is very much just some random guy off the street, way out of his depth. Someone with hidden potential who's quick to leap to the rescue when a monster runs off with a child, sure, but it's all very down-to-earth. We aren't dealing with a literal prince from ancient times here. Ryou could be anyone you know, and he could even be you.

While it's far from the absolute most engaging or exciting premiere I've seen doing this so far, there's absolutely something to be said for how textbook it is – especially when it's the one writing so much of that book. And while roving gangs of bad guys on bicycles may be a surprisingly underwhelming concept for an action sequence, once the team transforms, there's still more than enough flair to the proceedings between all the awesome martial arts posing and that legendarily cool RyuuseiOh prop.

Talking strictly about the premiere is also probably underselling how great Dairanger truly is, because I know a lot of that is in how it all fits together in the long run. Everything I mentioned about Ryou here was part of a larger initiative this show had to explicitly make all five heroes the "main" star, and that balanced character focus is one of those things I've long heard spoken of fondly. Everyone apparently gets their turn, and that's communicated through things like who gets to say the catchphrase in the roll call, or how the commercial bumper eyecatches feature a single member of the team each episode rather than the whole group. (Though sometimes it's also a different member on either side of the break.) Once again, these are ideas many of the following shows would run with, so even though this paragraph isn't coming from a place of personal experience, I'd be remiss not to bring this stuff up, because it's core to the show's appeal among fans.

So yeah, while it didn't have a first episode that immediately resonated with me the same way some of them have, and it's the least I've had to say about a show in a while, I definitely get a strong feeling Dairanger is worth the hype it gets, and I could see the seeds for a great run being planted in that premiere. Not a show I've ever felt super eager to get around to for whatever reason, but almost certainly one I should be getting around to.

I've grown to really love the Dairanger suits over time, which makes me all the more sad that the Power Ranger comics keep passing up perfect opportunities to fit them into canon.

I was about to be all like "Oh man, I can't wait to see what you think of Kakuranger!" but then I realized that you've already watched it, and we've discussed it before :lol

Anyway, as for Dairanger, it's a show that really takes it time with some things. It's famous for having one of the very few unmorphed role calls, but it loses a lot of impact if you just watch it without having seen the build up to it. It's a slow burn that really ramps up once it starts going.

Dairanger to me is one of those shows where the casting was GOAT. And that baseball episode.

I remember somebody describing Dairanger’s premiere as if a few episodes had already happened and here’s definitely kind of a feel for that. We have three Dairangers already assembled with little fanfare, another one arriving from China that sounds like it could easily fill an arc on its own and some other things.

Since this is the last response to this “Zenkai Tour” that isn’t part of my “Tsukai De-tour”, I’ll just say that Dairanger has some great moments, but also a fair share of bizarre ones (people don’t talk much about the show’s ending and that’s not a good thing).

Oh yeah, silly me. Best part of Dairanger was the greatest cosmic horror ever in Super Sentai history.
https://i.imgur.com/P9WGAXW.png


Lovecraft can keep his Cthulhu. Toei gave us Dai-freakin-jinryu.

Fit them into canon? They're already canon! I cannot believe you'd forget about the universally beloved and iconic show Power Rangers New Powers when making this post. It's always been one of my favorite seasons! :p

That we did! Really good times! I'm looking forward to finally getting to make good on these words soon:

um excuse u fish it was called power rangers blitz i cant believe u wuld forget that

A sub of Kiramager vs Ryusoulger is out on nyaa torrents, courtesy of TV-Nihon (labeled under Anon). It's an expectedly fun and cute crossover. Got a lot of nostlagia from seeing the Ryusol Tribe and even Canalo's love antics, and the movie is filled with that trademark sweetness and energy from Kiramager.

To talk briefly about the action climax, and saying that I liked sparkly power-up for the Ryusoulgers! Although, I think it would have been cooler and also hit more of a nostalgia button if they had used the actual colourful armours from the show.

Also I guess if I had any critique of the plot itself, its that I really thought there were building up to Juuru winning over the Movie Jamen to their side by talking about their love and inspiration for art and stuff, but they just go for the classic solution of blowing them up. Missed opportunity, I think!

Also also:

https://i.imgur.com/IcD3eUM.png


I like to pretend this is exactly what production on set looked like. Anyway, go watch if you like either show, or because you want to appreciate some finely-crafted (v)cinema.

Got high tonight and decided to finally start Gokaiger after downloading the whole season months ago. Watched the first two episodes so far, and they're fantastic. The whole team is such fun and memorable characters, and the suits look great too. So far Luka's my favorite Ranger of the team. Only my third Sentai to try watching, and first in years, since early LuPat. Hopefully this time I'll finally finish one.

And one day, Toei will remember that detail and Daijinryu will level another city...or have him act like his counterpart and destroy a planet!

Cool image, by the way.

Personally I wish to see it in the upcoming Saber X Zenkaiger mashup. Imagine this having a wonder ride book of its own or this being the result of using the Dairanger gear. :lolol

Finally got to watch Kyuranger vs Space Squad. I've been looking for it for years and I just stumbled upon it while I was looking for something else (Go-Busters vs Beet Buster vs J). I'm just curious, at the end of the movie they're hinting at more Space Squad movies but it's been what 4 years and there hasn't been any news on future Space Squad movies. Did Toei decide to drop the project I wonder?

You overlooked Space Squad Zero Girls in Trouble.

I saw that a while back. But what I meant was a full on movie, like over an hour long. If I remember correctly Girls in Trouble didn't exceed an hour, right? And even that has been from 2017, so it's been a while. I haven't heard of any new Space Squad projects recently.

I don't mean to spoil it but I watched episode 15 of Ohranger last night and I have to say, that was my favourite so far. I was just not prepared for such a deep story at that time of night! :lol

Ohranger is simultaneously the best and worst Sentai of the 90s. Every episode written by Sugimura is straight fire, but the eps written by the rest of the writers range from boring to insipid.

Yeah, I am definitely aware of its reputation! It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride of part good and part bad so far but I am weirdly enjoying it!

Honestly, it's one of my favorite toku series. The good and bad are so jarring next to each other that is creates a weirdness I kind of really like? :lol