[GoldenXtreme]

I've honestly fallen pretty far behind in my Sentai viewing compared to how many Kamen Rider and Ultraman shows I have seen at this point. So I finished my first Showa era Sentai today, one I have been slowly watching for months: Goranger!

I honestly thought the show would be a drag, especially given that that it is 84 episodes long, but it was a fun and all around charming show! The team dynamic makes the show much more entertaining to watch than Showa Kamen Rider and everyone has strong personalities to boot. Not to mention the fact that the show is extremely, deliberately funny. I was laughing my butt off most episodes because of how absurd the show was, and unlike a lot of other shows from the 70s it felt quite intentional here. It also got wackier and wackier as it went along. It was almost too much, this show makes Carranger seem like a hardcore drama. Of course this show has some unusual quirks since it predates many Sentai staples, but I didn't find myself missing the mech fights or anything. In fact, I think I preferred Goranger's approach to just have some cool vehicles they use sometimes. Another point in this show's favor vs later Sentai is how they turned the team's combination attack, typically one of the most formulaic parts of any Sentai show, into a thrilling moment of "What on Earth is the Goranger Storm/Hurricane going to turn into this time!?" It's not a perfect show by any means, this show has a notable amount of visual jank even for the time period and the sheer length of the show doesn't do it any favors, but I had a lot of fun and am now quite eager to try out more Showa Sentai later.

Not quite sure how I will rank it yet, but I am leaning toward a B just for the sheer fun factor. Going to mull it over a bit.