Who is your favorite Ranger of all time from Super Sentai and why?

I think, overall, Jiraiya/Ninja Black from Kakuranger is my favorite sentai hero. The runners up would be Ryu/Red Hawk from Jetman, Marvelous/Gokai Red from Gokaiger, and oddly enough, Kasumi/Momoninger from Ninninger (!!!).

This question got me thinking. Who is your favorite ranger from each show you've seen?

For me, it's...

Maskman: Haruka/Yellow Mask.
Jetman: Ryu/Red Hawk.
Dairanger: Souji/Tenma Ranger.
Kakuranger: Jiraiya/Ninja Black or Tsuruhime/Ninja White.
Ohranger: Juri/Oh Yellow.
Carranger: Minoru/Green Racer.
Megaranger: Not sure yet, but Kouichirou/Mega Black is the front-runner after 15 episodes.
Magiranger: Wolzard.
Shinkenger: Takeru/Shinken Red.
Goseiger: Alata/Gosei Red.
Gokaiger: Marvelous/Gokai Red. Or Luka/Gokai Yellow.
Go-Busters: Enter. I know he's not a ranger, but was anyone else even on this show?
Kyoryuger: Ian/Kyoryu Black.
ToQger: Hikari/ToQ 4.
Ninninger: Kasumi/Momoninger.

Very good choice.

Mine would be...

Liveman: Tetsuya/BlackBison
Jetman: Gai/BlackCondor
Zyuranger: Goushi/MammothRanger and Burai/DragonRanger
Dairanger: Daigo/ShishiRanger and Kou/KibaRanger
Kakuranger: Jiraiya/NinjaBlack
Ohranger: Riki/KingRanger
Carranger: Kyosuke/RedRacer
Megaranger: Kenta/MegaRed and Yuusaku/MegaSilver
Timeranger: Naoto/TimeFire
Gaoranger: Kakeru/GaoRed and Tsukumaro/GaoSilver
Dekaranger: Tetsu/DekaBreak
Magiranger: Tsubasa/MagiYellow
Boukenger: Masumi/BoukenBlack
Gekiranger: Gou/GekiViolet
Go-Onger: Hiroto/Go-OnGold
Shinkenger: Ryunosuke/ShinkenBlue and Genta/ShinkenGold
Goseiger: Agri/GoseiBlack and GoseiKnight
Gokaiger: Don/GokaiGreen and Gai/GokaiSilver
Kyoryuger: Ian/KyoryuBlack and Nobuharu/KyoryuBlue
ToQger: Akira/ToQ6gou
And
Ninninger: Kinji/StarNinger

We actually did have a full thread dealing with that question a while ago... Would be cool if someone could dig out the link to it maybe?

Found it: Favorite Super Sentai "Ranger" from each team

The good thing about Super Sentai is that it inspires and influences you to make original characters

Which of the Go-Ongers became a detective again?

Gunpei Ishihara/Go-OnBlack

My Sentai green-ness is going to show

Battle Fever J: Cossack/France. I can't decide and I don't remember their names
Jetman: Gai
Zyuranger: Goushi
Megaranger: I honestly can't remember what any of them were like
Ninninger: Yakumo

edit: Whoops, looks like I should move over to the other topic huh.

Well, I haven't really watched much in terms of pre-90s sentai. A couple of episodes of Goranger, JAKQ, and Battle Fever J, just to see where the series came from, but other than that the earliest i've seen is Jetman. I'm okay with the old effects and everything, but the 90s is when a lot of things I liked started to happen, such as 6th rangers and better mech fights/suits. So my question is: what are the defining features of 80s Sentai that sets it apart from the other decades? What does it have that newer Sentai lacks?

I honestly don't know. The only 80's series I've seen that I didn't hate was Liveman, which I dropped about 10 episodes in. Despite my overall boredom with it, I hear it's one of the best and definitely worth watching (So I'm planning on trying again...Eventually).

The only other 80's series I've seen is Sun Vulcan, which I can basically surmise as "Nothing Happens: The Sentai."
(Though I do hear things get bearable once the second VulEagle appears about 20 episodes in)

Liveman and Maskman are good (Maskman gets slow in the middle of the season though). Bioman is pretty good also; GUIS just finished subbing that season and are working on Changeman and Flashman. I am going to let them get a few episodes ahead before I start those.

See, I love the way they look (the suits and the mecha), and the soundtracks are awesome, but I'm a bit worried that i'll get bored easily since they're so dated. However i've seen some people swear by 80's Sentai, so I'm wondering what elements it has that would make one choose an 80's over a 90's or 2000's. I see plenty of reasons to watch a 90's Sentai over a 2000's one, not sure how it works with the 80's stuff.

I just heard the Liveman theme the other day and couldn't believe how cool it was. I think i'm gonna check that series out soon.

A lot of people swear by Liveman's quality, so I would definitely agree that if you're looking for a good series, go with Liveman.

I would also recommend checking out Sun Vulcan, simply because I enjoy seeing people try to pluck out the good points in it :lol

http://memesvault.com/wp-content/upl...-Barney-05.jpg

You know how I am. If there's no CGI then what will there be for me to complain about? :lol

Okay this may have been answered but I need to ask for myself. Why the heck do you hate CGI so much?

Sheer, unending boredom? :p
Good luck~

Everybody is grilling me on it in the CGI vs Practical topic, so go there if you want a deeper explanation. But what it comes down to is that I love practical effects in shows, movies, etc. and the whole reason I got into toku was because of the practical effects.

Oh that's reasonable. It's your preference.

Dude...don't do it. Trust me...it's not worth it.

Although you do get to see the most dynamic weapon in sentai history in action, but even with that it isn't worth it.

Yeah. I understand why they do it, I understand why people like it...but the meat and potatoes of toku is in the suits. I'm trying to get over it though, because it's preventing me from enjoying a bunch of shows.

Honestly....you're just making me want to watch it more. Just like how everybody bashing on Kamen Rider: The Next made me want to watch it. I'm gonna watch Denziman first though, and as far as I know that isn't subbed yet.

Has anyone else tried their own ideas for Super Sentai Teams in Fan-Fiction?

I was thinking, what if we put together an official tokunation "where to start" list for people getting into Sentai? We can list shows that are great intros to what Sentai is about, and also shows that aren't great places to start (even if they're great shows)

Good idea? Bad idea? Tried it and it didn't work?

The idea itself isn't bad, it's just that taste is extremely subjective. For example, Gokaiger has a lot of flash and flare, and is a tribute to Sentai's history that many people enjoyed, but some won't be into it due to various reasons (Beyond your disinterest due to the overt amount of CG, with complaints sounding like "I don't know much Sentai, so the suits and tributes mean nothing to me" or just bringing up how it's plot doesn't get any real traction until halfway through), or the extremely divisive Kyoryuger, which can be argued to the moon and back.

Taste also plays a giant issue in making the list. Some people see Go-Busters as a waste of space, others see it as Sentai's equivalent of RPM, so if the person who was making the list enjoyed Go-Busters, they could place it on the list while writing off the criticisms.

I'm not against the idea of such a list, since with so many years of history, it can be pretty daunting for a newcomer to pick a series to watch, but it does have quite a few hurdles when it comes to creating such a thing.

Yeah, I was thinking some of those things too. But what if we came up with categories for the various reasons you're getting into Sentai/what you're looking for out of it? Something along the lines of "If you're coming because of Power Rangers nostalgia, then look into Zyuranger. If you like the idea of drama between team members, check out Jetman. If you want a "sampler" of Sentai through the years, go with Gokaiger." We could have votes for each category, and whichever series is the most agreed to fit into that category, we'll list. We could also include a runner up as well, something like "If you want Ninjas, check out Kakuranger. If that doesn't suit your fancy, then try Hurricanger."

I was just inspired by a discussion I saw elsewhere (forgot where) about which series are good for beginners and which aren't. Lots of people were saying Magiranger is a good introduction to Sentai, between learning to use your powers, learning what the mechs are, etc. while Dairanger isn't, because everybody just automatically seems to know how to transform and pilot the mechs. We could even include a "but keep in mind" line to include what people might not like.

Of course, the idea would need some more development. But I posted it in this topic on the chance that maybe some other people would have some ideas on how to do it, and it could actually go somewhere. I see tons of "beginning guides" in various other places for different fandoms, so a Sentai one could be cool. Maybe even a Rider one if people were so motivated. If not, oh well.


(For the record, I wouldn't suggest Go-Busters to somebody new to Sentai, because why would you suggest the black sheep to somebody trying to get a feel for what a series is like?)

Go-Busters was just as an example~

But the idea of multiple categories does help smooth things over, so if you feel it's possible to create such a list, then I'm all for it.

I assumed as much, I was just sayin ;) At least we don't have to worry about that series though.

I also feel like I should clarify, my distaste for CGI isn't Gokaiger-specific; I was just stating that it's on the "too much CGI" side of my scale during that discussion.

Yeah, I'm not trying to find the definitive Sentai for beginners. That's impossible. But at least some sort of guide to direct newcomers in the right direction would be pretty cool...

...I'm just not really sure where to start :lol anybody else have any ideas? I guess we could just list what we think each Sentai has going for it. For example, Jetman has a lot of drama and relationship focus. Zyuranger has Power Rangers nostalgia and a fantasy theme. From what i've heard (since I haven't seen it), Magiranger is a good introduction to a lot of the tropes that make Sentai what it is.

I brought up Gokai mainly because I saw some disdain for it because, for some people, the anniversary aspect didn't really have an impact because they weren't familiar with a lot of the suits.

I really don't know where you can start, since Zyuranger and MMPR really doesn't share much beyond the suits, so nostalgia goggles can only get you so far, unfortunately.

Speaking of "Starting Lists" and such, I personally hold Goseiger as being an answer to the question "What if [favorite Sentai] had more seasons?" with any and all complaints toward Goseiger as "Well that's what would happen if you gave [favorite Sentai] more seasons." And I love Goseiger's general niceness. Hell, even the way they save the day in the finale is something I'm totally okay with.

I'd like to say Gekiranger, but it was so perfect that giving it more would probably ruin it.
That said, I'd still risk it for a second season of Gekiranger~

Not to mention Zyuranger is pretty damn bad. But I digress.

As far as a starting point/s go my philosophy is that if you're coming here from PR just watch the Sentai version of your favorite season. But if we were to try and pick out some suggesting points, well I think there's at least enough unanimous "This is good so watch it" seasons to use. Infusing those with my own personal picks would probably come out as:

Liveman
Jetman
Dairanger
Megarager
Timeranger
Abaranger
Gekiranger
Gokaiger
Go-Busters

Well, if it's your first Sentai, you might not think that. That's where I started and I thought it was great.

Now, which of those do you think are good at introducing somebody to Sentai? While I personally didn't like it, I could see Megaranger as a decent introduction. Based on what I've seen of it (2 episodes) Liveman would be a great place to start, as long as you can get past the dated nature. I guess what I'm trying to get is more of a "what are beginner-friendly series" and less "what are great series" type list.

Well, the familiarity of the suits could make the other differences a lot easier to digest. At least, that's how it worked for me.

That was my great for beginners list though. I simply infused unanimous picks for best of all time with it. If I was to pick a single one though, I'd actually go with Megaranger. The story is simple enough for anybody to grasp and watch raw if needed (though with it fully subbed I can't imagine anybody watching it raw) and is fairly close to PR some with them being in school. Mega definitely isn't the best Sentai around, but it's simplicity and easy access makes it the perfect introduction.

Ah, I see. I personally wouldn't consider Dairanger or Go-Busters to be good for beginningers. Dairanger barely explains a lot of the staples (they just magically know how to do everything at the beginning. Also, on a personal note, it was the second Sentai I tried watching and almost completely turned me off from it.) and Go-Busters is way too different. Like I said though, I agree with Megaranger. It has a simple plot, the high school setting and secret identities make it familiar enough for Power Rangers fans, and it actually explains the concepts of transforming and the mecha. Whether or not it'll grab a viewer and reel them in is a different story.

I wouldn't call Dairanger a good series for beginners, but not for those reasons. It's just because it tries to do a lot of new things and only about half of them work.

Megaranger...Eh, I guess it's fine for a newcomer. For series like Magiranger and Abaranger, I can't comment since I never saw them.

I honestly think a good beginner series is Gokaiger. Gives you a run down of the history of sentai. It's a cliff notes history book turned into a show with its own running plot line. That is usually what I suggest to newcomers to sentai.

It does work in that regard, but it's not really selling you on the virtues of Gokaiger, but just using it to get cliff notes on other series.

I would recommend Gokai because it's a series with a lot of action, so people just wanting to see spandexed heroes kicking ass will get their fill with it.

That's the thing I DID enjoy about that show, there was a ton of action. I especially loved the clip from one of the movies/specials where the Red/Silver combination went through every Red suit in the series. Despite what i've said about not liking the suit changes, it was actually pretty awesome there.

Anyways, I agree with both of you. It's definitely action-packed and can give you an idea of where you might want to go next with the series. On top of that, I remember most of the cast being pretty likable. I can agree with Gokaiger being a good intro series.

Even if you don't necessarily agree with my point about it, do you disagree that it might be jarring for a newcomer to the series?

I agree that it's not a great series to introduce Sentai to.

Good enough lol