Same chief producer, and that specific episode is from the same writer, but since that was also her first episode of Kiramager, I guess make of that what you will. It is somewhat curious they felt the need to do such a direct tribute to another show, but then, it's Gekiranger, so I mean, if *I* were making a Sentai, I'd do the same thing. :p

(It definitely seems like you're making good progress on Kiramager right now, by the way!) :)

Good to know he eventually got a way less lame superhero costume after this!

Ah, fair enough then, can't exactly fault them for it. I mean, if you're referencing Speed, then why not also do a Geki tribute at the same time?

And yeah, I have a free weekend, and some inspiration of my own to bash through some Sentai. Why not?

Two way less lame superhero costumes! On the Rider side, Mochizuki Yuta portrayed Segawa Kouji/Kamen Rider J, the last Showa Rider of the Heisei Era.

Jetman 42-43:

42 is really all about relationships that can't work out with affection alone. Inoue establishes that theme almost right away by showing Gai losing patience with Kaori's attempts to teach him proper table manners. In the case of their relationship, their attraction is even mutual and everything, for once in this show, but it's readily apparent there's still a fundamental gap between them as people, and it's clearly becoming an obstacle to the idea of them being together. Tranza starts a scheme in this one to build the ultimate super robot to defeat the heroes, but his rough draft of a creation here, G2, is a childlike defective product quickly condemned to the scrapheap. G2 forms an attachment to Grey after being shown kindness by him as a fellow robot, but G2's attempts to stay by Grey's side are constantly rejected, because that one little gesture of mercy meant far less to him than it does to G2. Grey himself is still pining after Maria, but he receives a harsh reminder here that his very nature as a cold mechanical being puts him at a distance from her no matter how hard he tries. In that one regard, Grey even recognizes that Red Hawk has something to offer Maria that he can't, but of course, Ryuu's affection towards Maria isn't. Ryuu longs to be reunited with Rie, and it seems like at every turn, he's denied that happy ending. And that's the story with this episode; it's not very happy for any of the major players. But its melancholic atmosphere is supremely compelling, and the amount of depth Inoue has packed into these characters is commendable beyond any doubt. I really liked this one. Had me totally totally gripped from start to finish.

With 43, Inoue essentially takes mercy on the target demographic by doing a much more lighthearted story driven primarily by evil plans and sci-fi adventure tropes. There's a fantastic scene of Kaori's ill-fated attempt to introduce Gai to her parents, but beyond that, it's fairly straightforward toku aciton and excitement. The team even end up getting crucified! It doesn't get much more traditional than that! This is also a focus episode of sorts for commander Odagiri, but there's never been much to explore about her character, and Inoue doesn't really try here, perhaps coming to the not-unreasonable conclusion that said lack of complexity is part of her charm. She's just a no-nonsense authority figure who's just flexible enough to not come off as overly stern, and she does a great job looking out for the team. So while Tranza continues to go big with his giant robot plan cooking in the background, Radiguet goes small by shrinking down a Bio Dimensional Beast to take apart the heroes from the inside in a very literal way. When their commander starts acting all crazy, it's up to our heroes to do a Fantastic Voyage deal with Jet Icarus, and in stark contrast to the previous episode, it's mostly goofy fun. Not actively comedic, mind you, but it really leans into the larger-than-life drama in a way that keeps the episode very light on its feet. Again, this is the episode where the team gets crucified, and it happens because their commander made them think it was somehow a test. I guess it just goes to show how much they trust Odagiri, or something, if you want a central theme to the story, but like, by the time she's piloting Jet Garuda to get back at the monster of the week, do you really care that much what the deeper meaning of this one might be? It's an entertaining watch, and a welcome respite from the *drama* that's presumably on both sides of it. I mean, I'll find out in a bit, but I'm guessing that robot Tranza is building will be no laughing matter.

I just finished the third disc of the Megaranger DVD set. It's really great watching this show again.

Time Ranger (owned on DVD) is interesting enough. Haven't seen much time travel yet and am on 23 Pink Temptation

Also starting Go Go 5.

Galaxy Man I'm at the Magna Defender's entry so I'm curious to see the Black Knight in this and how close to Lost Galaxy the plot is.

I was thinking Captain Mutany would have been the main bad had Power Rangers played off it. But for some stupid reason Power Rangers goes with the bad boss girl thing. Happened dating all the way back to MMPR but that was due to Bandora. The rest was a Power Rangers thing for most of them.

Decided to watch the first 4 episodes of Akibaranger season 1, christ this show goes hard. Sentai occaisonally dabbles with adult stuff be it for a laugh or a surprisingly dark moment, but I was caught off guard for how often I remembered "Oh right this is flatout for adults". My only gripe was how a specific translation was used which contains a slur but considering this was back in 2012, I'm aware it was a different time. Greatly enjoying myself

Episodes like #32 are the reason I absolutely love ToQger. The proper reveal of the ToQger's situation, their resolve to see things through until the end, Akira supporting them all the way, the reveal of everyone's full names.....It's all solid and emotional! That scene of Right encountering his younger self, and running past with a high-five and a smile? It's something I'm sure I'll always remember about ToQger.

.........Alternatively, two episodes later, ToQger #34 is the worst I've ever felt about ToQger, ever? I saw the preview for this episode and felt my eyes roll back into my skull.

Where to start with this one. I'm gonna be blunt with you guys: I depise plots like these. Maybe its a mix of personal bad experiences and the like, but comedy that stems from "guy who's aggressive, creepy, and persisent w/ his romantic advances to a girl clearly not interested" makes my skin crawl more than anything.

The fake dating stuff....yeah no. I don't mind the trope, it can be a fun time when used properly, but it just fell flat for me? And then, we wrap it up this rather poor joke with that kiss. This show aired in 2014, so I dont know if the writer's intent for the joke is "Uh oh! Akira kissed the wrong person!" or "Uh Oh! Akira kissed a MAN, isnt that absurd?", but either way it doesnt work for me.

Man, can't Mio get a decent episode to herself, please? She has good moments scattered across the show, but the moment it's time to give her a focus episode, the show fails to deliver...There are one or two episodes of focusing on her I thought was ok, but a lot of them just feel undercooked in some way, it sucks. Hoping get better for her, as the rest of the show keeps increasing in quality.

A number of reasons could be attributed to why Scorpius and Trakeena and Stingwingers are incorporated into Lost Galaxy over Captain Mutiny/Zahab:

- Reportedly, most of the Gingaman Balban suits were being used for filming Gingaman VS. Megaranger and were therefore inaccessible to PR at the time they started filming Lost Galaxy. Worth mentioning that the Furio suit was a mild tweak of a Megaranger suit, so they probably already had it and decided to use it since they hadn't used it for In Space.

- Scorpius was also reportedly created to match the bug-theme of the initial Balban Majin during the first several episodes of Gingaman.

http://www.morphinlegacy.com/power-r...villain-legacy

- One could also argue that Starship Troopers played a role. The live-action '90s movie probably wasn't that old around the time Lost Galaxy debuted. In addition, I came across something years ago that suggested that the Terra Venture "Defense Force" uses some of the same props from Starship Troopers! Given that ST is about "Humans VS. Bugs", I have an inkling that someone behind Lost Galaxy decided to run with that and rip it off!

Yeah, I really have no idea what the hell the writers were thinking when they made that episode especially considering the revelation involving the main five rangers not long before this. Plus, I can't help but feel like it's supposed/planned to take place much earlier in the series or at the very least shortly after Akira makes his introduction into it but was being put off for some reason. Hell, it could've been made as a nice team-up episode between Mio and Akira that the other ToQgers manage to have. At least Yasuko Kobayashi, the show's head writer, didn't write that one.

Jetman 44-45:

44 has Inoue checking in on Gai and Kaori's relationship status at the start to reaffirm that's it's not going very well for them. And that isn't my opinion either; Kaori said so herself! She confides in Ako here that they just don't have anything to talk about when they're together, and I mean, yeah, that's not too surprising when you consider that their job is all they have in common. (It's also not surprising that Ako mostly just teases Kaori throughout the conversation, but to be fair, if you had to hear about other people's romantic problems as much as she probably does, I'm sure you'd stop taking it very seriously too. It's how Ako keeps sane, no doubt.) For his part, Gai is regressing to the point of inviting other women to hang out at the pool, and even if his heart's not totally in it, I mean... you know, let's just make like Ako and try not to get too absorbed into the *drama* between those two right now, because it's not actually the focus of the episode. No, the real star of the show here is Tranza's killer new super demon robot, Veronica. I haven't at all mentioned Jetman's main director, Keita Amemiya, yet, and that's because I don't have the strongest grasp on his style to really comment on it, but like, he not only directed this two-parter, but Veronica was personally designed by Amemiya himself, and you can absolutely tell he wanted to show this thing off. And I'm not complaining, because Veronica is pretty dang cool! The design has that particular sort of organic yet unnatural aesthetic that (I think) is 100% Amemiya's style, and there are a couple extra fancy touches to the suit like a moving mouth and eyelids to really sell the look. And instead of like, an engine, it has a creepy dark room with walls that sprout arms to grab people and drain their lifeforce to use as power, which is... man is that hardcore. The vast majority of the episode really is just a showcase for Veronica going up against all the different robots of the series. In this one episode, it takes on Jet Icarus (which loses), Jet Garuda (which loses), Tetra Boy (who loses), and Great Icarus, who the team suspect will turn the tides in the second round. (Great Icarus also loses.) It's pretty thrilling stuff, and much like Veronica's suit, there are these little specific touches to the action that elevate the overall package. In particular, there's some extensive wire-work to have all the combatants flying through the air, in a lot of cases because Veronica is throwing them around like it's nothing. This is especially great in my favorite moment of the entire episode. You see, Jet Icarus and Jet Garuda have this cool thing they do when they combine, where they start by basically high-fiving one another as part of the stock footage, which is immensely satisfying to watch. This makes it especially brutal to see Veronica run up on the two of them and grab their arms right as they're trying to combine for the first time.

There are two important things to note heading into 45. One is that the Radiguet is now actively sabotaging Tranza's plan out of jealously, which is the only reason the team have even survived this far. (And yet, somehow when Radiguet ruins the evil plans, I'm still on his side.) The other is that the very tense and exciting cliffhanger leading into this episode was Great Icarus being boarded by enemy forces, resulting in the capture of Kaori, Raita, and Ako. So once again, we're in a situation where Ryuu and Gai are left to pull a win out of this somehow, only by this point in the series, they're actually tight enough that working in sync isn't too much of a problem. Heck, that may even be an understatement. There's a huge emphasis on the two of them both working together in a productive and mutually respectful fashion, to the point the episode ends on the note of them buying each other celebratory drinks. (The episode is literally named after hot milk, too, which is incredible.) It's maybe a weird swing for the story in a way, to start off on that note of how much trouble Gai and Kaori are having, only to end on this big reaffirmation of how much Gai legitimately cares about the team now, but both of those things are also equally true to how his character has grown over the course of the series, so I don't know. Maybe someone else wants to criticize that, but as for me? I'm way too invested in all the epic action going on here to be all that bothered. I mean, not only do you have Gai heroically exposing himself to absurd amounts of electricity to keep the wires on a damaged Great Icarus together long enough for Ryuu to make a desperate evasive maneuver, you've also got my man Radiguet finally taking an all-or-nothing stand against Tranza. He ends up saving the day at least as much as Ryuu and Gai do, and the best part is that, as ever, it's entirely motivated by his own selfish desires. He needs to be the one to kill the accursed Jetmen, and to that end, he's even willing to free the three captured members so he can do the deed on his own terms later. And considering Tranza's attempt to make Radiguet another battery for Veronica ends with Radiguet using Veronica as *his* power source, I have a feeling that when he makes his next move, it'll be something suitably huge.

So to recap, we've got huge stakes for the heroes, tons of intrigue with the main villains, and a notable amount of extra effort put into the action and special effects. All of which makes this another darn great multi-parter, any way you slice it.

Right?? Both Tokacchi's and Kagura's episodes with Akira were good! The part where Akira and Mio headfirst into battle that ep together makes me wish we got literally any other kind of episode with them together that properly focused on their clash of personalites, it would've been fun!

Jetman 46-47:

You know Jetman took two whole weeks off between the original airing of 45 and 46? There was that whole epic showdown with Veronica to round off the show's run in 1991, and heading into the following year, it's like, how much more exciting are things gonna get from here? What is Radiguet's next move now that he's on his own?! What's Tranza's next big plan?! What about Gai and Kaori, and all the other ongoing plotlines in Inoue's complex web of *drama*?! ...And then the first episode after that extended break is some nonsense about tomatoes. Yes, this is the very last episode of Jetman from a writer other than Inoue, and Kenichi Araki picked a heck of a concept to go out on. I generally credit the guy's plots for how the monster drives the overall narrative, and when you've got a villain literally born from Raita's deepest childhood fears, it's definitely meeting that standard well. The whole emotional thrust of the story here relates as directly as possible to what the monster is all about. It's just, you know, the monster is about tomatoes. This is such a weird one, and I can't actually tell you if I really liked it or not, because for a lot of reasons, I find it hard to pin it down. It's like, the episode is completely incongruous with everything happening on either side of it, it's relentlessly silly and completely unashamed of that fact, Raita saves the day by eating, there's maybe some kind of moral in there about overcoming... something, but I'm not totally sure. You'll have to decide for yourself which of those sound like the bad things, and which of them sound like the good things. Or don't, because, again, I can't decide myself. This is episode is tomatoes. That's about as succinct as I can put it.

Although strangely enough, a scene of Radiguet wandering through the streets and reverting to a human form after being weakened from his clash with Tranza marks one of the vanishingly few instances of a non-Inoue episode making an effort to advance the show's story. I mean, going into 47, you could probably just assume why Radiguet looks that way without it being a huge deal, but still, this is worth noting.

Anyways, 47 is awesome. Tranza makes himself a big bazooka thing that basically turns people directly into his commemorative trophies, and he promptly sets out to hunt down the team, secure in the knowledge that Radiguet is definitely not going to get in his way anymore, because that dude is a loser who's probably dead by now. No points for guessing that Radiguet is very much alive, gets in Tranza's way some more, and by the end, proves himself the ultimate winner of their longstanding feud. Tranza's goofy bazooka scheme isn't exactly the most thrilling plot ever by itself, but when it allows us to have an episode where an injured Ryuu works together with Radiguet to defeat Tranza once and for all, the episode as a whole becomes so, so much more. This is really the whole point of Radiguet ditching his usual look. He gets to present himself to a clueless Ryuu as simply a mysterious man who also wants to see Tranza taken down, and with nobody else left to turn to, Ryuu desperately needs that help. It's this interesting sort of camaraderie between them, where Radiguet makes a big deal about how it will be the powers of the two of them combined that will defeat Tranza, as though he's genuinely eager to help Ryuu. Radiguet saves Ryuu's life, reminds him he's a warrior, tells him not to give up, and just generally does his absolute best to be a team player. Because after all, Radiguet is genuinely eager to help Red Hawk... just as long as their goals align. But as soon he finds the moment is right to take down two of his most hated adversaries at once, Radiguet doesn't hesitate to reveal that this is exactly the opportunity he was waiting for. He doesn't end up taking down Ryuu, but Tranza gets pretty much the most brutal possible reminder who the actual main bad guy in this series is. I'm honestly shocked the episode ends the way it does. I definitely didn't hate it though. (Especially the reversal of the whole "say my name" bit from Tranza's debut.) I think I've made it more than clear at this point how much I'm into Radiguet's twisted pride, and this episode is an utterly fantastic showcase for that. He is filled with nothing but sheer loathing and hatred, and what makes him so threatening is that, as he demonstrates through teaming up with Red Hawk, his raw anger often gives him a level of focus most people only achieve from being calm. He's also never had the luxury of complacency, and if you read back the second sentence of this paragraph, you'll realize exactly what the difference between Radiguet and Tranza was in the end.

More Gaoranger!


EP 9: Turns out GaoBeasts can be more than just random pieces of construction equipment, they can also be random creepy children who really, really want flowers. This is part of what gets me with this show, conceptually an episode where Yellow gets to show off his softer side by helping some GaoBeasts in disguise so nice, but the implementation ends up so utterly surreal it takes me out of the story.


EP 10: Anyways, speaking of surreal... The GaoRangers travel to the past through a moon portal to get a magic healing mushroom and also a GaoBeast is there in the past but not the present for some reason. I should really stop thinking too hard about this show.


EP 11: Okay, now that I'm done bullying the last 2 episodes I'll hand it to this one. This episode and the nice little plot with White and her father was genuinely good. It actually might be the first episode of the show that felt like an actual Sentai episode to me, as opposed to a string of inoffensive but surreal happenings. White is winning me over quite a lot at this point, she's probably my favorite so far.

Jetman 48-49:

48 is where Inoue really starts to push the show towards its ending, and since this is Jetman we're talking about, that means he's mainly focused on pushing one of the romantic arcs towards its conclusion. In this case, we've got three people who have feelings for Maria in three extremely different ways. Radiguet considers her to be of great value as a possession, and using his new powers, he tries to make her into a truly perfect puppet, bestowing her with vampiric abilities that are also gradually turning her into a bestial creature with none of her own identity left. Maria insists she's willing to give anything for the strength to defeat her enemies, but this turn of events doesn't sit right with Grey, who loves Maria for the beauty he sees in who she is, rather than what Radiguet wants to make her. It also doesn't sit right with Ryuu, who loves Maria for who she was, and would still do anything to be back together with Rie. In typical Inoue fashion, this is emphasized as strongly as possible, as we also get to see Ryuu head to a birthday dinner early on here. It's Rie's, of course, and Ryuu is completely alone at the table. He's good at playing it off around the team most of the time, but the poor guy has been seriously hurting the entire series, and a scene like this (that, once again, really doesn't feel like something you'd normally see in Super Sentai), I honestly think it's a great way to remind the viewer just how deeply Ryuu feels all this stuff. In a show with this much *drama*, it's not easy being in love, and it only gets that much more painful when Maria turns him into a vampire monster slave too, which makes for a heck of a cliffhanger. An episode that ends with the star of the show screaming with glowing red evil eyes and fangs is the kind of thing that will make you come back the next week!

(There's also a fight with a new giant monster robot thing wrecking the city, which serves the purpose of isolating the rest of the team from Maria and Ryuu, but the episode weirdly glosses over this whole thread, to the point that 49 just kind of skips explaining what exactly happened to it after trashing Great Icarus. I guess it just left?)

So obviously, heading into 49, it's the usual grim scenario. Maria is still going around sucking people dry, completely apathetic to the monster she's becoming, and now Ryuu is in the same position. But it seems like there's some hope! After all, Grey comes to the conclusion that it's best for Maria to be in human hands again, clearly a decision inspired not only by how awful the Vyram lifestyle is treating her, but by his own development back in 42. So that's good, and what's even better is that Ryuu manages to reclaim control of himself through the power of love. And if it works for him, then maybe it'll still work for Rie too? ...Well, I guess draw your own conclusions, because I prefer to not spoil too much about these episodes, and I don't know how I can talk about the resolution of this one at all without giving everything away. Suffice it to say, there's a lot of emotion packed in here, and some suitably huge twists and turns for some of the last episodes of the show. It's another very definitively Jetman episode, in the way it chooses to give dramatic context to the typical good vs. evil struggle of a Sentai show. There's something I remember reading about back when I was doing the Zenkai Tour, and I'm glad I had this pointed out to me, because I wouldn't have noticed on my own: Ryuu never transforms at all in this one, and I think that says a ton by itself.

Jetman 50-51:

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

The visual that brings the entirety of Jetman to a close ends up being an extended recreation of the show's commercial bumper, and that's significant because it's significant. While the bumper that brings the show back from ad breaks is a typical group shot of the team in costume, the one that leads into the commercials is notable for being the first time in Sentai history that the bumpers featured a team out of costume. Exactly like Gai said back in episode 13, they're human beings before they're warriors. In other words, even in something as minor as a set of two still images shown for a few seconds every week, Jetman still made it a point to demonstrate that is was as much a show about people as it was about heroes.

Naturally, Inoue stayed as true to that as ever when writing the final two episodes. It doesn't take much effort to have a climactic confrontation between a villain who wants to destroy humanity and a bunch of humans who don't want that for obvious reasons. You could get away with having no extra personal motivations in play there whatsoever, if you felt like it. So what's impressive about 50 is that it takes the idea of a final showdown between Red Hawk and Radiguet, the show's greatest hero and villain respectively, and actively makes it nothing but personal. Ryuu's dealing with all the emotional baggage he's carried the entire series becoming too much to carry, and he makes the ill-advised decision to set off on his own to settle a score with Radiguet, who, for his part, shows one last hint of deeper emotions early on before once again burying those feelings beneath pure rage. It's a setup that provides a great final hurdle for Ryuu to overcome as a character, because the very idea of him acting this selfishly would've been unthinkable back at the start. Equally unthinkable is the idea that Gai would rush out to save him, to the point of entering a deadly solo battle against Grey to allow the rest of the team to get to their leader. Even Kaori gets to ultimately be the stern voice of reason imploring Ryuu to focus back on The Mission, in a complete reversal of how those conversations went early on. It's all emphasizing the character development of the series, and it's fantastically executed stuff. Amemiya pulls off a few particular tricks with the direction that are, for lack of a better word, way more cinematic than I'm used to for Sentai from around this time period. In particular, there's a subtle transition involving Rie that really surprised me with how beautifully smooth it was. You'll know exactly the moment I'm talking about when you see it. And despite how successful I think this episode is at maintaining the usual intense human drama, what I think truly pushes it over the edge into becoming something truly awesome is that, when all is said and done, the episode comes down not to romantic worries or petty squabbling, but to five heroes uniting as one against a villain seeking to destroy humanity. After everything they've been through, the team have overcome all their personal problems, and in that moment, more than ever before, they can truly be considered a Super Sentai team.

51 tackles the dual identity of Jetman's writing in its own way. Prior to the commercial break, it's all superhero stuff, all the time. One big elongated showdown between the team's robots and the mysterious giant monster from 48, which of course turns out to be Radiguet himself. (The name made it pretty obvious.) There were a couple brief moments in there where I honestly wondered if the fight should be more exciting than it is, but pretty much every time I had that thought, something immediately happened to make the fight more exciting. There are some standout choices the episode makes, such as involving commander Odagiri directly for a truly all-hands-on-deck finale, or the way Raguem's sole weakness ties back to the drama of the characters. And on that note, as often seems to happen in the toughest robot fights, the team wind up getting knocked out of their transformations to finish things out of suit. It all concludes with the ultimate gesture of mutual trust between Ryuu and Gai, and the promise of a hopeful future for humanity with the Vyram finally defeated. It wouldn't at all be unexpected for a Sentai series to end right there, but Jetman still has an entire half of the finale left, and it dedicates it entirely to actually showing us a glimpse of that future, three years down the line. Everybody is doing well for themselves! It's almost shockingly happy, for a show that loves its *drama* so much. You get to see Kaori's wedding, which was pretty much something Inoue had to give us, after devoting so much time to who she'd end up with. Though what's just as important is that Ryuu and Gai are feeling way better about themselves and each other. Gai even explicitly calls Ryuu his best friend here, which is one of those incidental lines that's pretty emotional for how quickly it flies by. Oh, and then there's that one particularly famous thing about Gai's role in the epilogue, which everyone knows, so I don't even need to say what it is. (This is your cue to go watch Jetman if you actually don't know.) I will say, it's another plot point I've always heard boiled down solely to the literal event, and watching it in context, it became a lot clearer to me why the finale is written that way. It's all about bringing Gai's character arc to a close by stressing just how much he's capable of prioritizing the feelings of his friends over his own needs now, and while it's a heck of an extreme way to make that last statement about how much he's grown since meeting Ryuu and the others, I can't imagine the series ending in any other fashion. But then maybe that's just because the ending is famous. But then, maybe that's just because it deserves its fame.

And that's about where I stand with Jetman, having finally sat down to watch the whole thing for myself. As I've said before, I was totally ready to both go into it and come out of it primarily ribbing Toshiki Inoue for being himself, but the guy's writing has a way of reminding me why I generally say I like Inoue when asked to give a binary answer to that question. (Or wait, do I always say that consistently? Honestly, if I've ever contradicted myself on that, it probably just fits the point I'm about to make better.) The thing is, while I'm not at all above being frustrated by stuff he's wrote, and can thus sympathize quite a bit with people who never gel with his style, when you give him a show that he gets to write for himself, he always displays something that's utterly invaluable in a writer, and that something is a sense that he genuinely wants to tell the story he's writing.

In all of the *drama* that defines Jetman, I always felt Inoue's passion. He was clearly excited to see what directions he could take these characters, and how far he could push the show in the direction he wanted, and it's hard not to respect that as a viewer. The excitement of the writer becomes the excitement of the finished episodes, and that becomes my excitement while I'm watching it. You can see throughout these posts that I kept a sense of humor about it a lot of the time (something I find helps a lot in engaging with Inoue scripts!), but plain and simple, I really did become invested in where these characters were heading. There's interesting stuff going on with all of them. The drama with the heroes is often quite layered, and there's maybe a good reason Gai is so iconic that goes well beyond him being "cool". The four Vyram generals are some seriously standout Sentai villains, absolutely nailing that classic evil royalty vibe, and each getting their own growth and development throughout the series to boot. It's a strong cast that easily carries a year's worth of storytelling. The episodes from writers other than Inoue have completely different flavors from his particular direction for the series, but they're often solid adventures in their own right that give the show an appreciable amount of variety. In particular, Kenichi Araki provides the most traditional plots, balancing things out, while Naruhisa Arakawa displays the first signs of what will become his unique voice for Sentai later down the line.

Everywhere I look, it feels like there's something worth giving Jetman credit for. I'm sure it gets called overrated all the time, as is the destiny of any show that gets called the best all the time, but as for me, while it probably won't be something I immediately think of as a favorite, I found it very easy to see why it's THE favorite for so many others. Many of Jetman's sensibilities are arguably way ahead of their time, and because of that, I feel like it's safe to say it still holds up. Jetman was a grand renaissance back when it was new, and even now that it's older, for me at least, it was a darn good watch.

Those that have finished Jetman, you can celebrate by rewatching that scene from Zenkaiger. You know the one.

Ah yes, the one hing that gets referenced in any fanfiction featuring Jetman (or at least, all but one of the ones I’ve read/read of. To the point where one person said that if he was writing a big crossover and HAD to feature Jetman, he’d go with Ako and Tranza due to how overdone Gai and Radiguet were in other stories.

I heard what happened to Gai in the finale was an idea that Inoue came up with pretty much spontaneously. What's ironic is that the guy who did the thing to Gai was his own suit actor, Black Condor in the flesh! I thought it was a fitting end for his arc though and I still call him my favorite Black Ranger.

I'd much prefer to see what Raita's been up to. He was my fav :lol

Yeah, Raita is one of my favorites too. He and Ako are vastly underrated.

I won't lie, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the "...Vroom Mini-Picker!" gag in particular from that episode, among everything else about that scene. I consider it a massive testament to Jetman's quality that Zenkaiger didn't completely ruin the dramatic impact of the epilogue for me.

...Or maybe it's a testament to Zenkaiger's quality that it got that close to ruining it? Either way, I guess!

Look, I know if I were writing Jetman fan-fic, it'd be nothing but Radiguet jumping into scenes holding a sword while going "RAAAAAAAAARGH!!!", so I'm not going to judge anyone else for their choice of subject matter. :p

Inoue definitely seems like a pretty spontaneous sort of writer, so I'd believe it!

The two of them are legitimately crucial to balancing out the show's dynamic.

They aren't involved in drama as flashy as what Ryuu, Kaori, and Gai are wrapped up in, so it probably seems to some people like even the writers themselves care less, but I don't think that's the case at all. I really appreciated that Inoue did that whole plot in the Jet Garuda debut where Ako makes fun of how obsessed with romance her teammates are before getting involved in her one and only instance of relationship drama, and I think it's notable that the finale directly includes a reappearance from Raita's childhood crush in the epilogue, even though she's from an episode Inoue didn't write. References from him to episodes by guest writers are practically non-existent in Jetman, so I like to think of this as a sign that even Inoue realized how amazing that particular episode was.

Power Rangers

Beast Morphers
Series I (Episode 16)

Dino Fury
Series II (Episode 01)

Watching both on Netflix VIA download on my I Pad and may resume after Dino Fury Part 2 (21 - 40) is uploaded to Netflix.

Will rejoin Netflix then.

.......I've finished Ressha Sentai ToQger, all 47 episodes.

God, I got completely steamrolled. I'm having trouble actually articulating how I felt about those last episodes or even a general review because I'm so overwhelmed by emotion right now. But I'm going to do my best to do so anyway! Full speed ahead!

-I'm a big fan of Yasuko Kobayashi's Rider works, they have much what goes on in ToQger(strong themes, super endearing characters, emotional beats that hit every damn time, etc) but the final arcs for them are underwhelming at best or even straight up baffling at times. I was fully prepared to ignore some awkward tie-ups to loose ends as long as the show hit the right emotional beats for me like I did for her Rider work, but I'm genuinely surprised how everything neatly comes together in ToQger's final arc? The secret behind the Zett/Right dynamic, Subarugahama's location, things like that- they're all solid payoffs to what the show has been building up!

-Look I know I talked about Akira in my last big post about ToQger and but like. Akira!!!! is so good!!!! in these last few 10 or so episodes!!!! People like to slap "father figure" on any older man in a cast of youths, and I definitely wouldn't call Akira that at all, but like. He definitely feels like an older sibling to the rest of the ToQgers by the final episodes, yknow? His "betrayal" arc, him tightly gripping the kid ToQgers as Right rides away because that's all he can do at that moment, making Right promise they'll fight together, proudly declaring that the Rainbow Line is his place to live-I love the kids to pieces, but Akira is probably my favorite ToQger by a big gap.

-Man, Zett and Right in these last few episodes, huh? It's really sad, how they both scuumb to darkness, thinking there's no other option than this fate laid out before them. There's this shot after he seemingly kills Gritta, and he sits upon his throne, and.....I know it's just a suit guys, but he looks so damn tired. There's this real sense of tragedy to Zett properly playing the part of the final boss, which is why I wasn't fazed at all at Gritta scooping him up and riding away. Maybe someday, he'll be able to obtain a sparkle of his own, in that far-off darkness...

Dark 1gou is really pretty, with the black suit with irscident flecks all over it.(Kinda wish Rainbow 1gou did something similar with a white suit, the effects they went for it are kinda painful to look at) Right's actor has always been pretty good at portraying the "kid in adult's body" stuff, but there's this one really good scene. Right's under a blanket, remembering the ToQgers he sent away, and he has this look. It's only for a second, but it looks so much more like the face of a deeply upset child's face than an sad adult's. It's so heartbreaking, in like the best way? That's all I can say abt everything concerning this particular plotpoint, him pushing away the rest of the group to fight Zett by himself: it's sad and heartbreaking and makes me tear up! And its resolution wants to makes me tear up even more!!!


Anyway. Final thoughts about this show. I adore this show, so much. I think this show is like, a testament to why I even like Tokukatsu: Yeah, it's exciting to watch people in flashy suits twirl around and punch monsters, but these stories are being told are so fun, so sincere, so kind, you can't help but get emotional! (As a side note: thinking of staring LuPat or Kyuranger, but I can't really decide. If anyone wants to throw in an opinion as to watch one over the other, be my guest.)

^ Glad you really like this series. Easily one of the most underrated seasons of Super Sentai.

Yeah, there's absolutely a lot to commend about ToQger. Glad to see it stuck the landing for you.

LuPat places a huge emphasis on the characterization of the heroes, and tells a lot of great stories driven by the cast's surprisingly grounded personalities moreso than any big Plot stuff.

Kyuranger goes for a really bombastic tone with its huge colorful cast, has a surprising amount of momentum to its overarching plots, and always puts its optimistic attitude and themes at the forefront.

In other words, I think both those shows have qualities similar to ToQger's own, so there might not be a wrong choice here. In my opinion, anyway, both LuPat and Kyuranger are really interesting shows that each put a fresh spin on Sentai in their own way. They're also deliberately contrasting each other, since one is a big space adventure while the other keeps things down to earth in more ways than one, so I guess maybe go with whichever one of those flavors sounds better to you at the moment?

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

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

With Zenkaiger having reached its end, Donbrothers is about to begin its own run as the one and only 46th Super Sentai series. But hey, since some of the anniversary aspects of the former are continuing directly into the latter, that's as good an excuse as any for me to wrap up one last bit of unfinished business by finally compiling my Zenkai Tour in one place.

It's like the thread I never made a thread for, so I figure a nice single post is the least I can offer it. After all, I wrote these over the course of an entire year, so digging back through the thread to find all of them without this is maybe more work than it ought to be. Assuming I'm not flattering myself again by thinking this post will actually be of use to anyone but myself, anyway. But to explain what this project is once more, I decided when Zenkaiger started airing that I was going to watch the first episode of every single Sentai up to that point, one premiere for every one episode of Zenkaiger, week after week, and then write a little something about it. Sometimes a lot of something about it. It was an excuse to travel through the whole history of the franchise, and my own feelings and memories with it, and I'm still immensely happy I made the effort to do that. So for the sake of preserving that journey in a cleanly manner, I've collected the links to all 45 of those posts right here, for the convenience of anybody who might want to take that ride with me.

Episode 1 – Himitsu Sentai Goranger
Episode 2 – JAKQ Dengekitai
Episode 3 – Battle Fever J
Episode 4 – Denshi Sentai Denziman
Episode 5 – Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan
Episode 6 – Dai Sentai Goggle-V
Episode 7 – Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
Episode 8 – Choudenshi Bioman
Episode 9 – Dengeki Sentai Changeman
Episode 10 – Choushinsei Flashman
Episode 11 – Hikari Sentai Maskman
Episode 12 – Choujuu Sentai Liveman
Episode 13 – Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
Episode 14 – Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman
Episode 15 – Choujin Sentai Jetman
Episode 16 – Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger
Episode 17 – Gosei Sentai Dairanger
Episode 18 – Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
Episode 19 – Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
Episode 20 – Gekisou Sentai Carranger
Episode 21 – Denji Sentai Megaranger
Chapter Twenty-Two – Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
Episode 23 – Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive
Case File.24 – Mirai Sentai Timeranger
Quest 25 – Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger
Scroll Twenty-Six – Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
Episode 27 – Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger
Episode. 28 – Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
Stage. 29 – Mahou Sentai Magiranger
Task. 30 – GoGo Sentai Boukenger
Lesson 31 – Juuken Sentai Gekiranger
GP-32 – Engine Sentai Go-Onger
Act Thirty-Three – Samurai Sentai Shinkenger
epic 34 – Tensou Sentai Goseiger
Episode 35 – Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Mission36 – Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters
Brave 37 – Juuden Sentai Kyoryuger
Station 38 – Ressha Sentai ToQger
Shinobi 39 – Shuriken Sentai Ninninger
Episode 40 – Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
Space.41 – Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger
#42 – Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger
Episode 43 – Kishiryuu Sentai Ryusoulger
エピソード 44 – Mashin Sentai Kiramager
Kai 45! – Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger

I had zero context for like 99% of these posts, but it was always fun to read them nonetheless. Glad you went through with it.

Thanks for the advice! Kyuranger seems exciting, but i'll watch and episode or two of LuPat to see if it catches my eye as well!

I don't know Sentai at all (the formula in my brain is basically Trains + Dancing x Sometimes Gears = Teens With Attitude), but a guided tour by Fish Sandwich through 45 years of Sentai? INSANE. You literally couldn't ask for a more passionate and knowledgeable fan to encapsulate and evangelize an entire franchise of tokusatsu.

Fish posts are always fun reading, but Fish projects? Those are required reading.

Thanks, as always, for making this stuff available to the community!

Just wanted to say you pretty much nailed why I like ToQger so much. I'm surprised it's not talked about a lot more as one of the better Sentai shows with the most complete story. I feel that I've seen a lot of comments about it being too kiddy but that's not what I got from it at all. It actually runs with its themes in a way that is very suitable and better than a lot of other tokusatsu shows. The final arc is especially strong and showcases why it's such a great show. Would love a figure to be made of ToQ1's "dark" side, haha.

My first ever Precure was Star Twinkle, a delightful little show about imagination(and space!) My first Rider show was Fourze, a lively show about friendship(and space!) My first ever Sentai was Zenkaiger, a goofy show about family(and......wait. do parallel worlds count as a space theme? It doesn't, don't you think? That's not good at all?! I've got to have consistency when it comes to this sort of thing, or you might as well take the "cosmic" out of my name!)

Anyway! Time for the first 5 episodes of Uchu Sentai Kyuranger!

If I had to describe these episodes in a short phrase, it'd probably be....Ambitious And Strange? Let's get into the details:

- These suits are lovely. I could stare at Shishi Red's helmet for hours. The little henshin stills are really stylish too! Good balance between being uniform and showing everyone's uniqueness.

-Aw man, we're really starting the stakes sky high, aren't we? It's kinda wild, starting a toku where the bad guys have already "won"? Not to mention the sheer scale (88 constellation systems?? A lot of the planets are on a ticking timebomb, exploding to dust once they've been drained of their resources?) That's a lot to save and liberate yknow? At least it firmly places our heroes in the "underdog" camp, and I do love a good underdog story! I t seems the Rebellion has come across a stroke of luck...

-Lucky! Blunt as a bat, straight as an arrow, and with a luck that would make a leprechaun blush? Guy doesn't even know what's going on, but hey those Kyurangers sure do look cool, and bad guys need to be dealt with, so he's joining the team!

....Man, I'm not sure what to think of this guy, y'know? I'm not one to turn up my nose at all goofy hot-blooded superhero youths, I enjoy them a lot! But Lucky..It's like he's more of a force of nature, than an actual person? I wouldn't be surprised if he was a guiding star that fell down in human form. With an archetype like this, you gotta give me something grounded about the character that I can latch onto. So I won't say I like or dislike him atm, I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

-Oh that's right, there's 8 other rangers running around as well! I will admit, I did feel a sense of worry at learning the base roster comes together at EP *5* of all things, but I think they handled it pretty well? Focusing on them in pairs (Lucky/Garu, Balance/Naga, Champ/Stinger, Raptor/Sparda) to bulid the dynamics that'll make up our status quo, it's a fine method. I like them all alot, save for one....

-Stinger's arc is probably the first genuine flop for me in this show? I was excited for this guy: he's got history with Champ! Cool powers! A backstory that you can feel sympathetic for and also see where he went astray! I'm sure he'll make for a great villain/rival character for the Kyurang-Wh. What do you mean he's a spy and already part of the team?

Aloof or more antagonistic members are always fun to have in a team-oriented show. Gotta love a good clash of ideals, yknow. and it's always such a satisfying payoff to when our loner character starts to wholeheartedly believe in the team's vision. The only payoff to having Stinger being already part of the team is really "See? Lucky's gut was right all along :)", and that's kinda.......boring? I think if that element was omitted, Stinger aiding the gang here, and disappearing off because he's got goals of his own to accomplish would be a solid wrap to his intro. IDK, just kinda soured the character for me, so I'm hoping for better things when he comes back.

Overall, I'm interested. Not 1000% percent onboard like I was with any of the other Sentai I've watched around this point, but I am mostly liking what I'm seeing!

After putting it off for who knows how long, I'm finally back continuing where I left off on Kiramager with episodes 25 and 26, which features the introduction of Yodonna as well as the heroes' mid-season upgrade for the series, as well as a crossover movie they have with Ryusoulger. I also just started on episode 27.

Decided every week I'll be watching an episode of Jetman along with Donbros to get the full Inoue Sentai experience. Episode 1 was pretty good. Interesting that it does the same thing of not introducing the whole team at one. The Jetmen so far are great. Ryuu's drama is intriguing, and Raita and white (whose name I missed) are very lovable. The Vyram seem freaky, not much to say about them so far. Next week is the ever infamous Gai Black Condor makes his debut. Can't wait, I've heard so much about him!

I'm watching Kyu myself and am 14 in on it.

I have to think that maybe after 2022 no more adaptions. Dino Fury may be the last one for the US. (Possibly)

If that's the case I may take 4 years and catch up the shows I missed any way I can.

Made to Episode 13 of Kyuranger!

I'm really liking this show, yknow? Our Rangers are fun and interesting characters(Kotaro and the Commander! I love them!), the fights are fun, the aesthetics are nice!

Like. I'm pretty sure I've got a lock-on on one of Kyuranger's major themes? With hard work, and a bit of faith in yourself and your friends, you can do anything! Nothing in the universe can stop you! And that's a pretty sweet theme, yknow? I can feel it-Episodes 12 want to convey this theme so badly.....but it kinda flops for me? And that unfortunately has to do with the person this story centers around?

I got really excited when this miniarc about Lucky losing his luck came around! It was really interesting to see his usual recklessness undercut by desperation while fighting Squid Guy! Super intriguing to see his usual cheerful undercut by doubt and anxiety, as well as hints of his past! So I was really tuned in, wanting to see how the other Kyurangers would get Lucky out of this.

.....Shame on how it turned out though.

I get what they're tryna to say. It's not about whether or not Lucky has fortune on his side, it's more about his *belief* that it is, and that things will work out! And since his friends also have faith in his beliefs, he should regain his faith in himself. It's a cute moral.....if this was about anyone but but Lucky?


I think the biggest thing for me here is.....faith is worthless without action. You can't just plant a seed and be confident it'll yield massive fruit-you gotta actually put in the work to make it happen, alongside your faith! So, the fact they went "Lucky you just gotta believe in yourself again!!!" instead of, idk, "Even if you happened to become a Kyuranger by chance, you've been constantly fighting hard aganist Jark Matter! Your contributions, your victories-that all wasn't mere luck! That's the power of your own effort, and luck won't change that!", kinda sucks?

(And ngl I've been waiting for *any* kind of major pushback against Lucky's confidence in his luck considering it's led to some close scrapes (Why are you snacking when your friends are about to crash into the sun?!) so the fact they just went "lol keep doing what you do best buddy, that's what we like about you :-)" feels so frustrating and seems like a major missed opportunity to me?)

Anyway it really sucks that I'm enjoying pretty much every other aspect of the show except our lead, I hope my opinion of him can change soon.

I've seen 18 episodes of Gaoranger and I'm starting to realize something. I feel the need to preemptively apologize for what I'm about to say on several levels, so uh, sorry in advance. I'm... not supposed to take this show seriously am I? This is like... KR Blade isn't it? The hamfisted acting, the borderline incoherent plot, the stunted characters. There was a plotline where they had to go to the past to find a mushroom which turned into an egg that hatched into a bird that turned into their new cockpit. There was an ancient giraffe that hiding in the form of a construction crane. Bears that are children who want Yellow to get flowers from some kind of cave beneath an apartment building. It's all just a giant, 51 episode shitpost! They really had me going for a little while, not gonna lie, but I see the show's game now!

Anyways, please don't correct me, I'm trying to figure out a way to process this show and this is the best I've got so far. :lolol

Finished watching episode 34 of Kiramager. Things are really getting serious now.

Gaoranger continues!
I'm up to the point where GaoSilver debuts now. I still find the show as baffling as ever, but lately I've found myself really enjoying the nonsense Tsue Tsue and Yabaiba get up to. Their specific brand of goofiness works for me a lot better than a lot of the show. Silver himself had a pretty good debut, far better than average for the show at least. It is honestly wild how I'm about half way through though, the show really doesn't feel like it has gone anywhere...

I finished Kiramager today and it is now among my top favorite seasons of Super Sentai. The show itself had a great balance between humor and drama and has easily some of the best mecha battles I have ever seen since Go-Busters with great heroes and villains to boot as well as the show itself just being downright fun. Where it would be in my personal rankings still remains to be seen. Now, it's Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger.............................. .....................................................................which is what I would've said if not for the fact that I decided to take a break from modern Sentai after finishing Kiramager and concentrate on watching and completing most of of the pre-Jetman seasons before jumping into that particular series beforehand.