[Red5]

I think Gai gets so much praise because he is different from any of sentai senshi that we have gotten and haven't gotten anyone like him since. He smoked, drank, cheated, and womanized throughout most of the show (except during his stint with Kaori). People enjoy elements that are completely different and he falls into that category.

I do admit that he lacks consistency in his personality and how he treated the team (especially Ryu). That would have made the show better if Gai was a dick throughout the entire series, but I believe the writers felt it might be too much.

And Ohranger's first 8 episodes are phenomenal, but there is a marked change from 9 or 10 forward. I know there was some real-world stuff going on and it mirrored to much of what the show was doing, so they made some changes to the tone of the show. Or maybe that was always their plan, who knows.