[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

All done with Sun Vulcan! It was less dull than Denziman was, but it wasn't a show that I thought stood out in any way. It could be pretty funny or kind of dramatic at times, but by and large it was pretty close to a true neutral experience. One of the reasons I watched this one was because it ranked quite highly on the NHK Sentai poll from a couple of years ago, but in the end I think the reason it ended up that high was just due to the facts it was the first Sentai show with a combined robot and the first Sentai show with an animal motif, which probably blew the minds of some Showa era kiddos.

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.

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Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

Besides that, the thing the show is best known for is the fact it has no female rangers in it. Someone here had commented that it isn't as bad as it seems, and indeed Misa gets a decent amount of focus and the number of female villains is truly extensive, but I did find myself thinking that the team dynamic would have been more interesting if Misa was able to regularly fight, especially since the three rangers we DO have are simply not very interesting. So while I didn't think it was a critical issue with the show, it was an experiment I am glad only happened once.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

So yeah, perfectly okay Showa toku I suppose. The next time I explore 80s Sentai, I think I'll delve into Bioman since that show seems to get some praise for it's heavier focus on plot and characters than many of its contemporaries.

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!