Yeah, I thought it was pretty clever how the foreshadowing was subtle enough that Sumire's secret only becomes clear towards the end, when Dai starts putting the pieces together. Then it's confirmed when he sees the grave. So tragic that he already got separated from his parents and then he experiences this as well. Poor guy.

Fun fact about the Great Titan, the body shell seems to be new for the show, but the Titan Boy is a retool of a Machine Robo toy called Tough Trailer, which makes sense since Bandai owns Machine Robo.

Powered another set of episodes of Sun Vulcan and I am already at its 20th episode.

Seijyu Sentai Gingaman Q3-4 & VS Megaranger: Heisei Era Complete!

I have finished my galactic quest. In case it wasn't clear before, Gingaman is a wonderful show!

May as well pick up with Hyuuga, since he returned exactly halfway through after Bull Black released him from his body. There's a cool scene with Ryouma where the viewer is led to expect Hyuuga to have to convince him to keep the Starbeast Sword (which is what happened in Lost Galaxy), but instead Ryouma decides on his own that he wants to continue believing in himself as Ginga Red, which is a great conclusion to his development arc from the first half. Hyuuga gives his blessing, while also being granted the power to become the new Black Knight, officially joining the Gingamen. He's a pretty chill dude who acts like a fool, but he'll use deceptive and shocking methods to defeat the enemy, like giving up his Earth and siding with Bookrates to target Zahab's weakpoint for most of the last quarter, which I think is the major difference between him and Ogawa's previous role as Sasuke.

I guess I should give Gouki another paragraph here, since I didn't have much to say about him last time. He won me over and I liked his love triangle with Suzuko-sensei and Shunsuke (portrayed by Kishi Yuji known for his role as Redracer). One of those episodes was giving me deja vu and I found out that it was adapted as an episode of.... Wild Force, with Danny. I recall Tzachor is a big fan of Kobayashi's works, so maybe he was disappointed that Chip didn't adapt it and decided to do it himself in a totally different show. My favorite Gouki scene is when he holds up debris to protect a teddy bear, which teaches Shunsuke the true meaning of heroism.

The constant chain of deceit and betrayal is an intriguing part of Balban. While it's a little sad for Bookrates that his niece's soul stone got crushed and used to finally revive Daitanix, I haven't forgotten that Iries was the one who got the honorable Budo branded a traitor, something that Zahab reveals he'd known all along. However, a later interaction between Hyuuga and Bookrates reveals that one of the Planet's Lives made by Daitanix came from Bookrates' and Iries' home planet and nothing more is said, leaving a dark implication about why those two joined Balban. Got to wonder how Budo ended up as a ronin before joining them, or what made Degius (the MOTW who befriended Hikaru) give up on heroism.

Wisdom Tree Moak gets important focus in the final arc where he attempts to reconnect Ryouma and Hyuuga and actually receives wisdom separately from them, as they tell him that they'll have faith in each other to fight Balban in their own way. I like it when a show treats the mentor as a person, not being above learning. Their resolve motivates Moak to help cleanse the Gingamen's Earth by absorbing the Earth Demon Beast's corruption in a heroic sacrifice, which ends in a tragic scene. Of course, trees reproduce asexually, so he's revived pretty easily in the finale. Other supporting characters Yuta, Haruhiko and Bokku all get their own heroic moments as well. It's a little shame that Yuta didn't get any episodes with Hikaru and Saya, since it would've been nice to see him learn something from all of the core 5.

The secret of Zahab's power is revealed to be a Planet's Life embedded in his body, which the Knight Axe was created to destroy. I guess this explains why somebody with Earth cannot wield it, since Earth is the power of life and creation, while the Knight Axe can only destroy. However, turns out that lost Earth can be restored as long as that person loves the planet, which makes a great callback to the first episode with Ryouma saying he believes in Hyuuga's Earth. Their combined fire-elemental Earths are strong enough to shatter Zahab's Planet's Life and after the Gingamen defeat him for good, they get the happy ending with Ginga Forest and its people reviving from the ocean. They return home, Hayate can now marry Miharu (there's also Saya/Hyuuga and Gouki/Suzuko-sensei to think about) and their new friends Yuta and Haruhiko are even welcome to come and go as they want.

Overall, I rank Seijyu Sentai Gingaman as my 12th favorite Heisei Sentai. While I cannot deny that it has some flaws early on, as I mentioned in my review of the first half, the story and characters are seriously worth watching for. It's a show that starts good and continues to improve, with a generous amount of focus for main and side characters and a strong commitment to the magical tribe theme, which I imagine was pretty fresh for its time. Would strongly recommend!

As promised, now I can finally present to you My Complete Heisei Sentai Ranking:

1) Go-Onger
2) Kakuranger
3) Gekiranger
4) Jetman
5) Goseiger
6) Boukenger
7) Zyuohger
8) Abaranger
9) Dekaranger
10) GoGo V
11) Gobusters
12) Gingaman
13) Turboranger
14) Ryusoulger
15) Gaoranger
16) Ohranger
17) Timeranger
18) Lupinranger VS Patranger
19) Zyuranger
20) Shinkenger
21) CarRanger
22) Fiveman
23) Kyuranger
24) Ninninjer
25) Megaranger
26) Hurricanger
27) Gokaiger
28) Magiranger
29) Dairanger
30) Kyoryuger

There's also Gingaman VS Megaranger, which conveniently takes place after the show, which I recall doesn't happen again until Kyuranger VS Space Squad.

The action starts with a new Demon Beast, Ghelmadix, invading the city. Giga Rhinos and Phoenix get blown up! The Gingamen are sad about this for maybe 5 seconds, before they immediately start wondering who this Mega Red guy who shows up. BTW, Hayakawa is not in this movie at all, in or out of suit, so Ginga Green stands out as the only unique color. It's not a bad movie, but I think you could mostly skip it without missing anything other than the central team-up. Cool to see Galaxy Mega once more though, since it's one of my favorites and I'm not a fan of Mega Voyager that replaced it in Megaranger's second half.

I want to resume watching Metal Heroes soon, but first I will watch JAKQ Dengekitai, as 35 episodes is an easy commitment.

Ah, yes. A Kobayashi masterpiece. :rock:
Love your insight on the Gouki and Shunsuke episode, by the way. That makes two past red rangers in the show including Hyuga played by Teruaki Ogawa.

Speaking of Kobayashi, after powering through four more episodes of Kamen Rider Decade, I decided to finally start on my rewatch of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger especially under much better English subtitles this time than I was, unfortunately, stuck with the first time around a few years ago. Hopefully, I would have an easier time getting through the series. I am also 20 episodes away from finishing Sun Vulcan. I am planning to get back to Decade once I reach a certain point in Shinkenger where the two shows officially crossover with each other and, of course, eventually finish up on my rewatch of that said Sentai series not long after finishing up on Decade.

It's always nice to see someone enjoy Gingaman! I think it is one of those shows that didn't really do one big thing to win me over so much as it had a ton of small moments that made me go "Oh, nice!". I remember being consistently impressed at how the show built out its characters and their interactions in ways that surprised me.

What curious rankings. Some I whole heartedly agree with, while others I find confusing.
Seeing Gekiranger, Kakuranger, and Zyuohger make top 10? Absolutely perfect.

Curious as to why Dairanger and Hurricanger are so low, though.

As for Gingaman, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It had it's moments for sure, but I found it never maintained momentum. Every time it was picking up and getting hype, it always rolled things back and slowed down again (Probably to do with the rotation of generals).
Looking back, I think I was probably too critical of it when I first finished it, since it does have it's merits that I genuinely enjoyed.

Admittedly, there may have been some days where I thought I might've come across as overly harsh towards Gingaman. It really didn't help that I watched the series shortly not long after Megaranger and I was effectively spoiled by that series and of how much I love everything about it and how Gingaman feels rather lacking in comparison and that its really slow pacing especially in its first half to the point where the overall story didn't feel like it's really going anywhere also did not help any matters. I may or may not consider rewatching the series somewhere down the line.......eventually.

Anyway, I am currently 10 (soon to be 11) episodes into Shinkenger.

Thanks. For anybody watching Wild Force after Gingaman, it would probably seem like a fun Easter Egg.

I seldom see people talking about it, which may explain why I ended up saving it for the last of Heisei. So I guess it's one of those underrated shows that's maybe better than people remember.

That's the fun of ranking, getting to see the eccentricity of other people's opinions, haha. Gekiranger in particular seems to make a lot of people's top 10s.

Dairanger got a little too uncomfortable for me sometimes, with stuff like Rin's creepy grandfather, Kou and the mud people. The Daijinryu subplot feels like it was forgotten. However, I did enjoy Shoji's subplot with the 3 goofy Gormas, who the Hashilien trio remind me of.

For Hurricanger, I thought there weren't many memorable characters, except for Yosuke, Ikkou, Shurikenger and Kagura. The plot was also hard to focus on, with the villains just chasing "that" for a long time. It's still a ninja show though, so the action was enjoyable.

Feels like the Balban generals were a prototype for other rotating villains, like the Negative Syndicate and Evil Spirits. I'm sure Balban would've been more productive if only Zahab didn't insist on using one general at a time, other than the Lights of Ginga arc.

That's a fair complaint. The first few episodes were strong, but after that, Sambash's methods were so ridiculous that it wasn't until Budo replaced him that Balban actually started to become interesting and move the plot. I think the first quarter did a good job building the Gingamen's characters, at least.

Personally, Gekiranger being an ode to kung fu flicks is one reason it's in my top 10. You don't see a lot of shows these days that pay tribute to the Five Venoms by the Shaw Brothers or the voice talents who were the go-to for Japanese dubs of certain kung fu flick stars. They just did such an exceptional job embedding kung fu flick easter eggs like those, and let's not forget where they got the idea for the core three ranger suits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6-3Sim6Gs

I am now up to episode 23 on my Shinkenger rewatch and I am already a couple of episodes away from reaching the show's official halfway point. I will definitely say, like Boukenger before it, I did find the series a bit more enjoyable to revisit thanks to the much better English subtitles I was able to watch Shinkenger on this time around.

Started watching Dynaman. Well, this show definitely deserves its reputation as an explosive sentai. And in general, it is much more action-oriented, even compared to most tokusatsu. Battles take up most of the episodes and even the characters are developed primarily in them. But at the same time, the show constantly emphasizes that its characters are not only warriors, but also scientists. Let them look more like popularizers of science than real scientists. Overall, I like the inherent comedy of the project. Everything is very simple, naive, but at the same time fascinating. The Salamander clan are also quite interesting as villains.
I also can’t help but miss this comment under the Dynamen’s film:
Well, first of all, I accepted the MMPR logic here: “It was an office building on a public holiday, so no one got hurt.” Again, the fact that the film uses footage of the explosion from the first episode, but there is no subsequent footage of the panicking crowd, confirms this.
Secondly, terrorism, like terror, is illegal aggressive actions aimed primarily at intimidating the group against which they are being carried out. Otherwise, it is not terrorism.Since the doctor demonstrated his weapon to potential buyers, his actions cannot be classified as terrorism. But what the salamander people were going to do with the help of this bazooka was quite complete. But since he didn’t know who exactly he was doing business with, he couldn’t even be prosecuted for aiding terrorism. Although, of course, it is strange that the doctor did not suffer any consequences for his actions. At a minimum, he is guilty of material damage on an especially large scale and creating a life-threatening situation.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...dynaman-02.jpg

I have just finished Sun Vulcan and the show is effectively one giant ball of meh. Definitely not one of Sentai's best, regardless of era, and yet not one of the worst either. Only four Sentai seasons to go and I will officially be finished with the Showa era portion of the overall franchise. Probably will watch either Goggle V or Changeman next although I am somewhat leaning towards the latter. Of course, I will also watch the remaining 15 episodes of my Shinkenger rewatch and I am also planning to rewatch Gekiranger (as well as Goseiger and Gokaiger) in between.

All I know about Sun Vulcan is that it has a really high reputation amongst old school Sentai fans in Japan, but everyone I've known who's watched it says it's really dull.

I finished watchingDynaman . Well, I definitely liked this show. It was simple, but pleasant. Some unevenness in tempo is mostly due to the peculiarities of the show on TV. Although the ending is still too fast. Also Tachibana Rei is my favorite pink ranger so far. And also, looking back from today, it’s funny that in this show Black and Blue have more toys and techniques than Red. But of course, the most interesting part concerns the villains. The twist with the Dark Knight, although obvious, still creates many interesting plots and reasons for reflection. In general, Dynaman is a good, effective show of its period, which is interesting and pleasant to watch.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...dynaman-02.jpg

I think it's what people would call a "moments" show. There are some cool parts for sure, but most of the show is filler and despite the smaller cast, Hiba gets a substantially larger fraction of the focus and development. As a result, I probably think of Hiba being a bad*ss and Sun Vulcan Robo's innovative design more than anything else about Sun Vulcan.

I can vouch for Goggle V. It's the first Sentai written by Soda, so you should notice that it's subtly different from Sun Vulcan, with a lot more focus on the characters.

17 episodes into Dekaranger and i love it.

The way some of the villain of the week having their own mecha make for some fun situations where they make a strategic use of it and make the mecha session feel a bit more variative.

The way the grunt being a weapon that the kaijin get from black market dealer also make it feel fresh when they introduce a stronger grunt.

The main cast are also pretty fun and bounce of each other well enough that it's a treat to watch them doing their mission and tackling them in their own way plus Doggie is just full of swag.

The soundtrack of this show is also pretty awesome too with how much they get your blood pumped and enhance the action scene greatly

If there's a con that i can think of is Ban being a bit too loud on the first two episodes, but even then he's still a pretty decent lead

I watched episode zero of Gozyuger. Overall a strong title for a small animated teaser. Reminiscent of the beginning of the Gokaigers and, to a lesser extent, the Zenkaigers, with the difference that this time instead of people, mechs heroically fight. The computer animation also creates a much darker tone and greater scale. In general, this teaser copes with its main task: to intrigue the viewer with the upcoming show.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...sode-00-01.jpg

I ultimately decided to start watching Goggle V if only to get this series out of the way before eventually jumping into Changeman and I already powered through the show's first five episodes.

I am now up to episode 43 of my Shinkenger rewatch and while it's most likely still nowhere near among my top favorite seasons in all of Super Sentai, I do, at the very least, have a better understanding on why the series is a considerable fan favorite on which I even ended up having a better appreciation for. That plus better English subtitles as done by OverTime. I should be able to finish my second viewing of the series either over this weekend or sometime next week.

Shinkenger is one of the best Heisei sentai shows around. Great casting, story, aesthetics, Genta, the Kobayashi twist that we get later, and so on.

I'm watching Maskman. Definitely the show with the coolest character transformation. Overall, although it may be due to my viewing order, I feel like the show is an evolution of the Dynaman idea. The enemy is again the underground empire, a mentor with secrets who has assembled a team of the best of the best. Even a ninja who can create clones is on both teams. Both shows also feature a completely unexpected mermaid. And here, as in Dynaman, the showdowns of the villains sometimes overshadow the protagonists. However, this coincidence does not bother me, since there are also enough differences.
Perhaps I would say that Maskman is an even more romantic show than Jetman. The cross-cutting plot is dedicated to the love of Takeru and the princess of the underground empire, and most of Kenta's episodes are dedicated to his interaction with various girls with romantic overtones. So this is the perfect show to write about ahead of Valentine's Day.
Maskman obviously falls into the category of Sentai: Red and Others, but to its credit, the show tries to right that wrong. The other characters are interesting and get their own adventures, it's just that Takeru is so important to the plot that it can't be outweighed. I won’t say that I like it or don’t like it, I’m just stating a fact.
I also can’t help but mention Akira, who fights superbly with two swords without a suit. Watching his fights is pure pleasure, so the episode about the tournament gave me incredible pleasure, even despite its simplicity.
I would also like to highlight the twelfth episode, which clearly showed that even if villains fight with each other, this does not mean anything good. Dangerous alliances have become common in today's Kamen Riders, so it was nice for a change to see an alternative view, where the conflict between the villains is not a lucky opportunity or a new ally, but a lot of problems. For villains are not just antagonists or enemies of heroes. These are creatures that sow destruction, suffering and death around themselves.
Also, the movie Maskman is simply beautiful. Starting with a special opening and ending with real underwater filming, and not, as was common then, filmed through an aquarium. A small masterpiece, the best of its kind, which I will definitely review.
Overall, I really like it. A good show that manages to stay interesting without making much effort.
I continue watching and recommend it to everyone who hasn’t seen it.
P.S. Also, for a team of martial artists, I think they love shooting too much.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...maskman-03.jpg

I managed to finish my Shinkenger rewatch today and I have already started on my rewatch of Goseiger.

The first episode was confusing because it wasn't a typical origin story and kind of starts in the middle almost. Other than that, loved the whole tragic romance angle they went with. If you have someone who loved or still loves Naruto, and you want them to see 80s Super Sentai, show them the intro. Them ninjutsu hand signs. :lolol

Fun fact, Louis Yamada LIII who plays Dr. Amachi was the voice of Lord Vamp in Astro Fighter Sunred.

Little late, but I just wanted to say, I have recently finished Chojin Sentai Jetman.

Boy, this one was a trip. It wasn't really at all what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing!

From Love Triangles to Villains betraying each other, from initially finding Gai to be a piece of work with rare moments where he shines to absolutely missing this guy in particular (though Raita or Ako might have been my top favorite). This show went places I wasn't prepared for, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Sure, at times it felt repetitive and a little predictable, but I think it's because I came off Jyuranger (and Hurricanger if you want to count it, even though it's more "modern") which was kind of silly (I say despite the fact that there was the plotline about someone dying and stayed dead), to this being more serious and dark. I mean, I know I should have anticipated that given how it starts or that I used to get this one confused with Liveman, but it still had plenty of light-hearted and goofy moments like how ridiculous some of the Dimension Beasts plans are the Tomato King (that was certainly something), but also killing off or depowering every potential "new Ranger" (I know they didn't seriously start doing this until Jyuranger, but I can barely keep track of what order Sentai Series debuted since I'm still getting into past shows), and introducing one of my favorite mechs, Tetraboy. I love that hyperactive himbo bot.

Vyram was also quite a unique group of backstabbers. I kind of enjoyed how absolutely despicable Radiguet was (also his name is fun to say) and was surprised he had that semi-wholesome relationship after he got kicked out. But Grey might take the top spot (though I'd say they're tied) given how imposing and just plain intriguing this guy was. Like every time he took interest in something, it felt big, since this guy just sits back and smokes (seriously, why does a robot smoking a cigar look cool?).

And yes, having seen this season, I now fully understand the Jetman Gear scene from Zenkaiger. But again, while that scene was absolutely hilarious (and still is), seeing it here felt like kind of a bummer, especially after it seemed like things were mostly fine. Overall, it's been fun watching older Sentai Shows. My next watches will either be Kakuranger, Gokaiger, or Akibaranger depending on which I make better time for.

A part of me does wonder if Akiko Inoue checked out Jetman for research and looked at the Vyram and went "There's something to this" when she started brainstorming for Gozyuger.

I just watched GekijoBoon Promise The Circuit in preparation for Gozyuger tomorrow.

This is the story of Planet Trickle's Princess Nicola, whose pendant is vital for reviving Bundorio in the show's final arc. After the importance of Haakabaaka to defeating Dugded's army, I guess Toei are trying to make Sentai summer movies more relevant to the shows.

Other than Nicola, Mira is the Boonboomgers' focus character of this movie. Taiya talks about handles, much to Demon Thunder's frustration. As the princess of a world taken over by the Hashiliens, Nicola might have more in common with Genba, but this was before Genba's secret was revealed, so Mira is in a better place mentally and in the narrative to deliver this moral. It's not really a new spin on the usual autonomy moral or anything, which I guess is adequate for a Sentai movie. Furthermore, Boonboomger is about cars and Mira is the team's driver, which is shown here in a way that you won't see in the show. It's great to see her taking the handle literally and delivering Nicola to her destination and the speech she gives is one of the better insights in to her motivations.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Despite my turbulent experience with the show, I'm glad I could say one more good thing about Boonboomger before moving on to the next Sentai. Not as spectacular as Adventure Heaven, but honestly, I thought it was better than Bebop Dream and All Sentai Rally. Maybe on the same level as New First Love Hero. And we finally got to see Sakito and Byundy joining in the Kotsu Kotsu Pon Pon dance in physical capacity!

Another pleasant surprise was the subs I used actually sticking to the official romanizations for the individual heroes (Bun Red, Bundorio, etc.), which is a small thing but it subtly enriched my enjoyment.

I know you're making up some of these names, but I don't know which ones.

Started my Goseiger rewatch not too long ago and I have already reached the point in the series where Gosei Knight, which is episode 17 to be precise, is officially introduced. Aw, Yeah! :D

The last batch of episodes were really great. :rock:

They are one of the Goseiger's definitive highlights, indeed. :D

I have just made it to the start of the Matrintis Empire portion of the series too.

I forgot, the show named all the villain-related stuff after movie titles. :lolol
Brajira's name was the most obscure one ever.

That's honestly one of the best things about the show for me personally.

:lol

I now only have ten episodes left on my Goesiger rewatch and I should be finished with this series sometime this week.

I ended up starting on my Gokaiger rewatch two days ago and I am already up to episode eight, the one with the Sneak Brothers, which is one of my favorite episodes of this series. Also finished my rewatch of Goseiger not too long ago.

I am slowly but surely making my way through Goggle V. Even though the show itself is just okay so far, there are a few episodes in Goggle V that are surprisingly decent like episodes 6, 13, and 16 and a couple of others. I am also 20 episodes into my Gokaiger rewatch and have thus already passed the point in that series where Gokai Silver is introduced, and joined, the show's main cast and he still remains as my favorite sixth ranger in all of Super Sentai.

Yeah, 16 was memorable for how unmorphed Akama got beat up over and over again and still completed his time-sensitive mission to save the kid. That was a serious Red Ranger moment right there!

Completed

Super Squadron

Zyu - Mega Ranger
Time Ranger
Aba - GoBusters
Ryu Soul

Power Rangers

MMPR - Dino Fury + movies

In Progress

5 Man
Jet Man
Galaxy Man - Hurri

All episodes not yet completed on this list will be watched on Shout Factory DVD. I just finished Time Ranger today on Tubi due to one episode sticking on me on DVD.

I completed Power Rangers on Shout Factory and Lions Gate DVD sets and Beast Morphers and Dino Fury on Netflix. Will finish Cosmic Fury on Kiss Cartoon.

Time Ranger now marks my 18th series completed from the Super Squadron franchise.

I started watching Fiveman and I realize that I like this show much more than I expected. Actually, I'll start with the obvious downsides: the nondescript title and the lack of any significant novelty. If you've watched at least a third of Fiveman's predecessors, this show about sibling teachers will have nothing to surprise you with. But despite this show, in its repetitiveness, the show is quite high-quality. Having seen other versions of these plots before, you are no longer surprised, but you clearly see that Fiveman handled them better. The characters are memorable and pleasant, the action is lively and high-quality. The dramatic plots are gripping, and the comedic ones are a real diamond. Surprisingly, in terms of the number of crazy episodes, this show with a banal name easily outdoes both the reckless Turborangers and the innovative Jetman combined. There's a plan to get humanity drunk, and an infection with laziness, and the appearance of Gingaman eight years before their own show (now that's what I call a crossover!)! And what about Arthur G6, who is a mentor, a parental figure, a comic relief and a big gun all at once! I love him, I really hope the show doesn't decide to make him a tragedy at the end. Plus, Remi Hoshikawa is now my favorite yellow ranger. The tribute to "Drunken Master" was awesome! So I would definitely recommend watching Fiveman, but on the condition that it will be the first or one of the first Sentai of its time period. Also, the show is close to Turborangers and Power Rangers in its fun and crazy atmosphere. Which slightly confirms my theory that MMPR is much more inspired by the previous Sentai than the show it directly used footage from.
P.S. The ending with Arthur and the siblings is incredibly cute and heartfelt.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1Kcar0VsAEmX8c.jpg:large

I prefer the name to Maskman, which sounds redundant. Fiveman have a big V on their chest, so they make an effort to live up to the name at least.

Actually, the Medou/Vulgyre plot twist surprised the hell out of me!

Same VA as Bundorio, with a pretty similar role.

Personally, I thought Fumiya was the better twin. Hikaru, Burai and Kotoha are better flutists as well.