Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

With PR arriving at its' 15th Year Anniversary this year, and Super Sentai's 30th, I felt that maybe we needed a topic all its' own to talk about all things Super Sentai old and new, and the world over.

So:

What's your favorite tokusatsu/Super Sentai and why?

WHat I mean by Tokusatsu, I mean EVERY hero out there; from Space Sheriff Garivan to present day Kamen Rider Den-O, to Garo.

I'll kick it off -

It's no question which mine is - it's my avatar: Gosei Sentai Dairanger(Five Star Task Force DaiRanger).

The show was badass and it's my all-time favorite super sentai show - heck, it made all those japanese classes worthwhile!

One of the last super sentai to feature hardcore true-form martial arts action and not wire-fu special effects-driven fight scenes. The later ones were heavily influenced by japanese shotokan karate and judo.....which don't make for much action, since it's chop-kick-block-punch-throw-turn-block-punch-pose. **secretly plays Master Chop-Chop's level in Parappa the Rappa**

When I first heard of it, I was curious - a show devoted to chinese myhology and martial arts, with sci-fi elements? Why didn't it come over like the rewst of the show, as MMPR season 2?

For one, I'm glad it didn't come over - they butchered Ryu-Sei-oh, the dragon deity, and the other deities into mindless robots. DaiMugen/Tor The Carrierzord, and the guardian of the realms was reduced to a lowly super zord. wow.

So, what about you guys?

Kakuranger was hit or miss, really. It had some hardcore ninja action halfway through it, though, but you'd have to know the backstory to it by then to even care....it was a good try though.

I sorta liked Zyuranger, but the thing is - I REALLY hate the maquette close-ups, where they'd use the toys to substitute for the real thing. Sometimes, it just loked too fake and distracting. The Burai/DragonRanger arc was great, though.

Carranger was NASTY. It was basically a multiple-car pile up of a show. "White Racer"? A gangsta elf with magical "car powers"? Ooookaay. When I saw it, I understood why PR:Turbo sucked so much - what can you make for kids that involves cars, magical powers, aliens, and five spandex-clad humans that doesn't involve REALLY fast cars, violence, and the occaisional fan service?

OhRanger....now THAT had potential. THat was awesome in its' own right and Im glad I saw it through. PR ZEO had that ability as well, except they missed the mark by mere inches: OhRanger was filmed in a way that you felt the power they were trying to convey - these guys had the power, the equipment, the vehicles, and above all, the experience to outlast and outrank the Machine King, and they'd show it off at ANY interval. KingRanger was also a big plus, though lost points due to that "Kou Factor" - He's a kid who transforms into an adult and possesses great power.

DaiRanger and MegaRanger still remain very close to my heart, though.

MY guess is that there isn't one LEGIT follow-up yet - it's all fanboy theories going WAAAAY off course.


Though, speaking of which, and bring more discussion to the table: One "insider" rumor on the Rangerboard forums stated that TOEI was seriously considering GanRanger - a samurai epic, to be the 2008 follow-up. However, bear in mind that while the speaking may be "Gan", the spoken word sounds like "GUN".

Soooo....I was thinking: there was such a things as "GunRanger", would the idea fly?

Quite honestly, I believe so. It's a bright, new, novel idea that has a lot of potential and could bring in a wider demographic for the show. A Super Sentai based on Guns and set in the futuristic wild west filed with cybernetic and alien outlaws and Samurai Gunmen would be a first, and be a totally fresh concept for a genre that has pretty much done it all.

....I'm already working on it.


What do you guys think?

Ahhh....the good ol' days.

Though for me, Denjiman was the first, as I disliked JakQ and Batte Fever J.....

Anywho, Seems latest rumor suggests that the rumored setting for next year is either Futuristic jungle planet earth or space, like Star Trek....though I'd prefer it if it was more Star Wars than that.:

SpaceRanger and GanRanger....I'll let you figure out which is which.

From Deadline:


From THR:


From Variety:

(I know that this tidbit has already been shared before, so please forgive the oblivious nature of this article which was originally meant for my Deviant Art blog)

Well, 2010 has been a pretty good year for giant monsters in entertainment, which I hope to make a list of which in a 'year-in-review' type way come December, but here's the latest batch of good news related to Power Rangers, especially for someone like me, who still holds a secret crush for Itassis of the Ten Terrors...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801 ... id=14&cs=1

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ... decodernyt

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/enterta ... odeon.html

http://www.sabanbrands.com/brands.html

Now, I'm not too sure about theme parks and new feature films, BUT Nickelodeon is a good home for the franchise, especially after how infuriating Disney's treatment of Power Rangers RMP was. And no, I'm not talking about the series itself, but the fact that it was a miracle to even catch an episode once every month on ABC's sports centric schedules.

Yes, for a while Jetix was basically the Power Ranger Channel, but the fact that all the seasons were done in a syndication package way, meant that a vast number of episodes were left in un-aired storage, with those 700 episodes ending up more like 80 or less. How many damn times can I, Eye Guy be played in a single month? Than Jetix became Disney XD and, well it all went south for practically anything that wasn't reruns of some idiotic Zack and Cody-style sitcom, of which is a far greater evil to children's mind than Power Rangers was...

...Sorry Brenda Song, you're gorgeous and all, not to mention one of the few Asian actress to continuous work in American television, in rather positive roles (somewhat) that don't have you becoming a North Korean spy or dead by episode's end, but you're still apart of the Laugh-Track Crisis. But if it makes you feel any better, you rank slightly above Itassis

Perhaps more thankful, is that Power Rangers steered clear of Cartoon Network, where only Ben 10 related programing is allowed to air without any major compilations. Even the high-profile Star Wars: The Clone Wars rarely being seen on a regular basis outside obscure weekends. And with that said, maybe its ultimately a good thing that Gamera never got his animated series back in 2005 on Cartoon Network, or we'd be tracking down episodes like Megas XLR thorough the 'gray-market' today.

But you want to know what the best thing about Power Rangers coming back on the air in late 2010 and newer episodes in 2011 is for me at least?



Forget the possibility of a new American Godzilla movie, its the fact that I'll be getting my weekly fix of bizarre but colorful non-human super villain monster-people (or Kaijin) back from this daft franchise is what truly makes 2010 a great year for giant monsters PERIOD!

Yes, there was a lot of dumb Super Sentai / Power Ranger baddies in both their designs and character that even I hated with a vengeance, most notably the overly silly crap from that insidious double act which was Abaranger / Power Rangers Dino-Thunder, but truth be told the recent batch of monster designs have been mostly strong and consentingly so...in their own daft rights of course.

Magiranger / Mystic Force had some beautifully designed villains based on mythical beings and monsters from across the world (Itassis too); I enjoyed the competing but otherwise unrelated multiple villain factions of Bokenrangers / Operation Overdrive; the Chinese influenced, animal-based martial artist demons of Gekiranger / Jungel Fury were surprisingly opposing threats; and even the junkyard robots of Go-Onger / RPM were most welcomed, though the said automatons had a lot more character dignity in the US version than the overly silly Japanese original...proving that not all Super Sentai is instantly superior to its American counterparts (not counting Abaranger / Power Rangers Dino-Thunder of course)

The monsters and villains in the next two seasons are worth looking forward too, with Shinkenger being based on Yokai legends, not to mention the Nanashi Company; catfish-like samurai troops who are among the more impressive cannon-fodder in Super Sentai history, with them going giant size on many occasions. And the fearsome alien invaders of Goseiger whom are all loosely based on American sci-fi, fantasy, horror and monster movies, complete with the current lead villains being a homage to King Kong and the Blob of all things!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Cond ... p_Yuumajuu

http://supersentaiimages.blogspot.com/2 ... akuin.html

http://supersentaiimages.blogspot.com/2 ... nggon.html

Oh my God, I'm such a hopeless nerd!!!

FINALLY! A Super Sentai post! I didn't even know this thread existed o_o.

Honestly, I've been liking Goseiger this year. Its a pretty divisive show.

People hate it for not being Shinkenger (YOU KNEW IT WOULD END. THATS HOW THESE THINGS WORK. ONLY PRETTY CURE GETS EXTENDED FOR ANOTHER SEASON).

But people like it for being pretty Retro in Aesthetic. It reminds me a lot of Zyuranger.

Also, I prefer the monster designs in Goseiger.

I've been kinda on and off with Kamen Rider the last few years. HATED Decade. They ruined a perfectly good plot. LOVING W, even though Kamen Rider ACCEL/TRIAL is SO not a Kamen Rider.

He's a friggin Metal Hero! Dammit Bandai! Toei! Just bring back Metal Heroes already! The timing is perfect!

Hehe most of the stuff I watch in regards to fansubs is from TVAsahi.

Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Pretty Cure, and soon Digimon X-Wars.