[GoldenXtreme]

I finished rewatching Abaranger. Aba was actually my first Sentai show back a buncha years ago, but unfortunately I think it was a bad choice for a first Sentai for me. I actually feel a lore more generous towards it now that I've seen more Sentai and can appreciate what it did that was unique.


Laying down the basics, I was pretty "meh" towards Aba the first time I saw it. As a tokusatsu fan I really only knew Kamen Rider at that point and I didn't even know anything about Power Rangers, so I kept wanting to compare it to Rider and it was usually losing that fight.


Now I can appreciate a lot of the unique stuff it does, Ryoga being a father is something that almost no tokusatsu does with its protagonist, Abarekiller as a villainous ranger that doesn't reallt get fully redeemed is very novel for Sentai (even if, again, coming from Rider it didn't strike me as special the first time watching). It's also something of a return to form, since its two predecessor shows Gao and Hurricane were... pretty frickin' bad.


That being said, it still has plenty of issues. To this day I cannot grasp why Abarekiller is so popular. I kinda like the general concept and I like where his character arc ultimately ends, but in general I often found myself wishing he was... more hateable? He stops shy of being truly entertaining as a villain for me because he never goes quite far enough! I wanna be shouting at the screen when he shows up as opposed to feeling apathetic! I also think in general the cast can feel a bit flat. I'd have liked more episodes devoted to the inter-character dynamics a bit more (and in Ranru's case I kind of just wish they did more with her at all). Asuka's probably the most consistent character for me. He's always got a nice stake in the plot and goes through some of the most interesting moments in the show. Good stuff.


I dunno, it's definitely a mixed bag, but overall I feel like its definitely more of a B tier than a C tier show at this point. I always like it when I like something more the second time!