San Vulcan is one of those cases where the villains are much more interesting to watch than the heroes.

Bioman is truly a step up in plot compared to previous shows, which is one of the reasons for its popularity. The show also adores its two "female soldiers," which further enhances the contrast. I would also say that from Bioman (maybe even Dynaman) to Liveman, the complexity and drama of the overarching plot, as well as its role in the show, will increasingly increase. Then, in Turboranger and Fiveman, viewers will be treated to a bit of relief before the shock of Jetman.

The villains were definitely consistently entertaining! The bit at the end with the cascading betrayals among them was pretty interesting too.

I'm excited to see some of these more dramatic 80s Sentai, Denziman and Sun Vulcan were both really light on the plot and characterization to say the least. I've been REALLY interested in Liveman for some time, but thought I would save that one for after I had tried a few of the earlier shows the decade had to offer first. I'll probably tackle it as my next 80s Sentai after Bioman.

Sun Vulcan Robo was pretty cool and innovative, so I could totally see the first ever Gattai leaving a strong impression on people at the time. The suits are also some of my favorites of the era, with the animal motifs letting each of them stand out more besides color.

While I generally enjoyed Denjiman more for the main heroes, Sun Vulcan had some memorable confrontations with the villains and I liked Hiba when he was introduced after the climactic moment with Zero One.

Considering the lower number of Rangers, it would've been cool if Misa had become an additional member like Big One. I wonder what her animal motif could've been. Perhaps a dog, like CC, as long as it's not too much to trigger Hyo's cynophobia.

Fun Fact: There was an idea for Bioman to be a 5-male team, but the two heroines were added instead to enhance the dramatic focus the show was going for.

Bioman was certainly a forerunner for the modern feeling of Sentai going forward. I hope you enjoy it!

I agree that Denziman has a much better hero cast. Hiba is pretty good though, I'd probably pick him as the best in Sun Vulcan just for getting some nice episodes and having a bit of depth to him! I'm not totally sure why I like Sun Vulcan a bit more than Denziman to be honest, I think I just found it's episodes a bit more entertaining overall?

A dog or a wolf would have been fun, but I also like the idea of something that would compliment the sky-sea-land theme of the rest of the team. Maybe a rose to contrast with the animal motifs, and serve as a nod to that episode where she was acting as a rose-themed fencer.

Oh man, is Bioman the one with a convoluted romantic drama plot that was basically the Toshiki Inoue sauce years before he broke through with Jetman? :lol I know there is some Showa Sentai along those lines, but I can't remember which one it is.

I think it`s more true for Maskman. And while romance is a key plot theme there, there's a significant difference between the relationships in Maskman and Jetman. To put it bluntly, the romance in Maskman is like that of a Shakespearean play, while in Jetman it's like that of a soap opera.

Bioman was a team of modern day individuals whose ancestors were showered with Bio Particles during old-timey Japan, and fought a cyborg madman and his creation of cyborg lieutenants and robot cronies. By the way, first team to have two female rangers. Later on, it gave us Bio Hunter Silva, the most badass Hakaider/Terminator-inspired third faction villain who had his own mecha. Also, the future Juspion actor, Hikaru Kurosaki, was a guest star for two episodes.

Maskman also gives me subtle vibes of the movie, Legend (which had its plot borrowed heavily for the Magiranger summer movie) because of the whole damsel in distress shenanigans.

Yes, I remember that movie. Yeah, I'd love to see a classic fairytale fantasy like that. These days, it's either too much humor, turning history into a parody, or it's all pseudo-historical political intrigue.

Maskman was probably the one I had heard about the romantic shenanigans in, though I find it a bit of a relief that it will be a different flavor from Jetman, which wasn't enjoyable for me. A Shakespearean play or a classic fantasy epic, both sound cool, plus I know Maskman also has some martial arts stuff going on! So much interesting stuff to check out in from the 80s...

The NASA transfer was planned from the start, so it seems like there was an effort to make Hiba memorable as the cool and interesting one. I think the main flaw of Sun Vulcan as a team is how they don't interact much, which I'd expect to be the appeal of having a smaller team.

A rose might've been appropriate, as a lifeform that's especially dependent on sunlight. Or maybe something else that's underrepresented, like a gecko or rabbit!

I'm actually in the 30s of Maskman right now and yeah, the combination of various martial arts, mysterious villains and romance drama totally makes it stand out as unique. I'm enjoying it a lot so far!

The future big shot actor Sanada Hiroyuki as well.

Eyy, good find. :rock:
AND he was in an episode of JAKQ?! Apparently, these were all during his days under Japan Action Club.