Saturday, May 29, 2010

Kamen Rider Black

All right, we now take a break from the usual Sentai talk, and go over to what I'd like to call one of my essential childhood heroes, this time from the Kamen Rider series. Being Indonesian, I am of course talking about... Kamen Rider Black.

Come on, fellow Indonesians who's reading this... say it with me...

KSATRIA BAJA HITAM!

(That's how the show was dubbed into in Indonesia, in case you don't know what that name is. And GOD I still remember how the dub's tone of saying the word!)

That being said, this show aired during the early 90's in Indonesia, just in time for me who's in Elementary school. Which explains why I really like this show. On watching episodes in Youtube, I realized that the fanboyism hasn't died out even until now. For us Indonesians, Kamen Rider Black is like the essential Kamen Rider. It was REALLY phenomenal, maybe kinda like how the Filipinos viewed Bioman/Maskman for Super Sentai (Maskman also aired around the time of Black, and even though it was also popular, let's say Black garnered more fans).

Anyway, let's begin the talk about the show rather than how it goes in my country.


Our show begins with our hero Kotaro Minami (played by Tetsuo Kurata) running off from the Gorgom cult. As the backstory reveals, Kotaro and his step brother Nobuhiko Akizuki were selected as candidates of people to lead the Gorgom cult, Black Sun and Shadow Moon. Nobuhiko's father was in cahoots with the cult thus leading to all this, but he had a change of heart in the last minute and managed to save Kotaro from brainwashing, though he still had his body enhancement from Gorgom intact. Thus begins Kotaro's battle with Gorgom using the power granted by them, now calling himself Kamen Rider Black.


Of course, things gets complicated when Nobuhiko returned with his brainwashing complete, embracing the Shadow Moon persona and became Black's greatest rival.


I cannot compare this with other Kamen Rider series, except the fact that there's no cannon-fodder soldiers like other Kamen Rider series and every Super Sentai installments, but I would say that pretty much everything of Black reeks of awesome. The fight scenes could get brutal and the drama was really intense. Kotaro really had a lot at stake in his battle, and victory doesn't mean he gets what he wants. There's a lot of price to pay. And what can we say about Shadow Moon? He's a kickass villain Rider, and a really threatening one, not just on how much destruction he can cause or how much he can kick Black's ass, but on the mental note as well: Shadow Moon is Black's stepbrother whom he really cared about before, and vice versa. For him to turn 100% evil and choosing to fight Kotaro to death is quite the heavy decision for Kotaro. Although even though he would lose everything, Kotaro decided to push on and on and on... It's a pretty dark entry of the Kamen Rider series, and that's saying something (Kamen Rider is considered darker than Super Sentai, for your information).

That being said, Black IS one of the most influential series that was aired in Indonesia, and it was pretty popular in Japan too. So...

When it was announced that Black (and Black RX) was going to appear in Kamen Rider Decade, and that Tetsuo Kurata, despite being more wrinkled than how he looked when the original series aired, is going to reprise his role as Kotaro, there was much fanboygasm to follow. And BOY does that fanboygasm not disappoint (wrinkled or not, Tetsuo Kurata is STILL Badass as Kotaro!). I wasn't following Decade, but after hearing it gets a Shinkenger crossover, I did watch the crossover episodes with Shinkenger... but when it's decided that both Black and Black RX are the focuses after Shinkenger... I decided to stick around more. Yes, I'm that much of a Black fanboy.

Talking about Black RX, however, will be detailed later.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

My Top 6 Sentai Blue Warriors

Well, I did say about planning out the Top Ladies of Sentai (and later on would spread into Top Gentlemen of Sentai). However, if I post that, it would make this kind of post pointless. So let's just start with the breakdown of list based on color. First off, Blue.

Ah, Blue. My favorite color. Ever since I was a child, I basically love this color. It's something I can't express its words. But I'd say Sentai plays a big part in me liking blue. So, I'm going to count down my top 6 Blue Sentai Warriors. I'd usually go for 5 for this, but why six? Well, let's just say I've been watching Nostalgia Critic too much and am obliged to go one step beyond, just like him. So! Here's the countdown of my top 6 Blue Sentai warriors.

6. Akira/Blue Mask (Hikari Sentai Maskman)
Akira is the youngest of the Maskmen, which was never a problem for me. He balances out between a humorous mood-maker of the team, producing some of the funny moments of Maskman, as well as seriousness. I mean, when he turned into Unas, I was... SCARED like hell. The concept of your mood-maker suddenly betraying you and turning into your worst nightmare sounds really cold and he was really kicking the Maskmen's asses, though thank goodness he's back in the end. Overall, the combination factors of nostalgia, and how his actor could pull off a lot of great stunts as him won me over.


5. Ken Hoshikawa/Five Blue (Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman)

Well, from Akira, there's Ken, the second oldest between the Fivemen. I'd say that while he does have impulsive acts that would endanger the team, what makes him endearing that he'd make up for it, at cost of his life, if he realizes that it's wrong. Of course, who else could forget that he probably is the only one between the Fivemen (not sure between the franchise) who could destroy a monster of the week untransformed and bare-handed. That put him quite high in my list, which is #5.

4. Ryuunosuke Ikenami/Shinken Blue (Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)

Ah, Ryuunosuke. You hyperactive, overreacting kabuki samurai. Call me cruel, but I do kinda giggle on seeing some events where his overreacting-ness caused him trouble that is treated as humor. It lightens up the serious moments in Shinkenger (we also have Genta to do that, but this is about Blue). Still, despite all that, you realize that Takeru doesn't appoint second-in-commands at whims and at times, Ryuunosuke does show competence and seriousness that makes him worthy taking that place, which is why he's #4. A hyperactive foil to Takeru that shouldn't be messed with despite how the universe chews him out.

3. Youhei Hama/Blue Turbo (Kousoku Sentai Turboranger)

The 'trouble-making girl-chaser' from Turboranger. While I do agree with the trouble-making part, I think that Youhei just makes trouble once in awhile with the teachers. With his friends, he's one of the best you can get. Not to mention, his natural good look and how he usually treats women with courtesy makes him a natural chick-magnet. Of course, the universe seems quite bent to screw him over like Ryuunosuke, like that time when he got his face swapped and lost most of his admirers because a cowardly boy used his face, though he still puts up a strong front. Overall, despite most of his troubles, it's safe to say that Youhei is my favorite Turboranger and #3 on this list. Especially that one episode where he lost his possible love thanks to the Bouma (man, that was a sad episode). Sometimes, I kinda wish he'd be the one personally killing the killer of his possible love rather than Daichi, but hey, what can I say...

2. Saburou Aoyama/Goggle Blue (Dai Sentai Goggle V)

Well, this goes way back. I would say that Saburou was my first childhood fave. He was the reason why Blue is my favorite color to this day. Well, what can I say? He'd stick his head to protect those dear to him, and while that's pretty standard in the 80's, I'd say that the way he did it was very well done. Of course, anyone who can make a frigging hula hoop look like a bad ass weapon is always good. His evolution of strength is also quite a sight to behold, you can compare that at one point he horribly lost one on one against a monster, and then several episodes later, he could hold on his own one on one against more advanced monster (and in fact was owning). As I would expect from my old favorite. But for now, he's number #2, since as time passed, I found another favorite, but I will give Saburou this place as a remembrance that he was once one of my childhood heroes.

1. Hoji Tomasu/Deka Blue (Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger)

Yes, this is the guy who surpassed my childhood fave. Hoji provides action, drama and silly English speaking, coated with awesome. I'm just quite the sucker of a character who is calm, cool and develops from a jerk into someone really respectable, which sums quite about what Hoji is. While it's still a character of him to be high-and-mighty, you'll see it pretty much less as you watch Dekaranger more, revealing a kinder man man beneath it all. I also like most of the dramas that came from his focus episodes, the episode where he had to kill his possible lover's little brother was a powerful one. And yeah, I'm straight and I have to admit that he and Ban might get a bit... too close. But his other traits pretty much cover it. Thus, with quite a lot of development and his usually cool demeanor, it makes Hoji take the #1 spot of my Top 6 Blue Sentai warriors.

So there you have it, my top 6 Blue warriors of Super Sentai. Again, this is just a string of opinions, so don't rag on me if it clashed with yours. And forgive me if my writeups just sound too corny.

I'll see you later!

(P.S: Many thanks to the actors of these characters; Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Shigeki Ishii, Keiya Asakura, Hiroki Aiba, Kei Shindachiya and Issei/Kazunari Hirota; since these characters wouldn't be as awesome if they weren't played by you guys!)

(P.P.S: If you're asking who my current fave female blue ranger is, it's currently Ako Hayasaka/Blue Swallow. Opinion may change once I finished watching Liveman. Unfortunately for Ako, she's just... not high enough on my overall blue list.)

Pairing Talk: Goggle V



This time, we tackle on old school Sentai pairing. Goggle V didn't really hit the current Sentai fans that much, but still, I think being a fan of Goggle V, I could do an analysis about how the characters add up and how much chance do they have as a pair. Granted, it's not really intended with romance, but sometimes the hint are there.



And since there's only one girl in Goggle V (Miki), I'll probably end up trying to find out who is the best pair for her. Not to mention that the oldest of the team is 11 years old older than her, but sometimes, age is not considered a gap...

1. Ken'ichi X Miki

For the most part, they're just doing things professionally. Though the amount of times of how Ken'ichi saved Miki from monster of the weeks (and it happened quite a bit) could be the most, so if they're looking for chemistries, they should go from there.

2. Kanpei X Miki

Except they ride the Goggle Caesar together, I don't see much interactions between them... He does sometimes save her from monsters, like Ken'ichi, but I think he does it in less frequency.

3. Futoshi X Miki

Granted, Miki does hang around with Kijima more often than those two, but it's not that much. Maybe that one scene where she showed concern on Kijima practically beating himself up to toughen himself in an upcoming fight could count, but other than that, there's not much to say. Besides, you've got to notice that Kijima is 11 years older than Miki! Age gap might not be a problem, but to some, it could be!

4. Saburou X Miki

Oh boy. I know someone who liked this pairing, but I think he only based it on reading a fanfic. Under further inspection, I'd say there's a lot of reasons why he could like this pair. Hirohisa Soda DOES seem to pair both Saburou and Miki together a lot (though he probably meant it as non-romantic). Here, let's list them:
1. They're both the youngest of the team, although while Miki is 16, Saburou is 4 years older (20). The rest of the Goggles are even older than him!
2. Usually, when driving a car, they're side by side, be it normal cars or the Goggle V's car.
3. The fifth episode when they walked together. This has been cited by many to be the top moment for them together.
4. During the episode fighting the Tiger Mozoo. Once again they're paired together, and when Miki tried to protect a girl from being blasted by Mazurka, Saburou jumped to her while shouting her name in worry.
5. Lastly, during the Goggles' final assault to Deathtopia, these two volunteers themselves to hold down Deathmark's two assistants, Bella and Beth, while Ken'ichi confronts Deathmark and later Fuhrer Taboo. Both ends up killing the assistants for good. (by the way, Kanpei and Kijima chose to hold down their respective enemies on their own)

So in the end, they didn't end up together romantically because it's an old Sentai show, probably not created with romance sub-plot in mind (like in JAKQ. Though as Fantasy Leader said, Goggle V was his first season and he was experimenting which elements to play, so I can see that he'd consider romance subplot something hard to do in his first run, thus it's not until Maskman that he'll include that). If Goggle V was created today, I think there could be more chemistries between Saburou and Miki... same way like Shinkenger's Takeru and Mako (resolved or not is another story that I won't touch.)

Bottom line, yeah, I'd say Saburou has the biggest chance with Miki. It helps that they're both my favorite Goggle V characters, so to say that they're my favorite shipping in the show is obvious. Still, considering romance isn't Sentai's main focus, I'm not very bitter at all.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Actors: From Hero To Villain - Contagious

An actor can play a hero one day, and play the villain next day. This holds true in the Super Sentai franchise as well. We've got some actors that played heroes in one installment, and next installment, they might be villains. However, I've also noticed that for Super Sentai, it may get a bit... contagious. If one installment featured a villain played by a hero of the previous installment's actor, one of the heroes of this installment's actors may play a villain in the future installment. Here's the list, or rather, the chain of this.



It started with Sayoko Hagiwara playing as Rei Tachibana/Dyna Pink in Kagaku Sentai Dynaman. Then, by Choushinsei Flashman, she played as Ley Nefel, one of the villains.




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Flashman features Kihachirou Uemura as Dai/Green Flash. Then in Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman, he plays the late-coming villain Chevalier.


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Fiveman also has Keiko Hayase who plays Remi Hoshikawa/Five Yellow. Later in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, she ends up playing as one of the Flower Kunoichi Gang, Sakura.


(She's the center one)

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While it might ended over there, there's one more from Kakuranger that follows. Hiroshi Tsuchida plays Saizou/Ninja Blue. And later on, on the latter installments of Super Sentai, he tends to guest star as the voice behind some monsters of the week.


(This one's from Shinkenger)

------

So basically, it's as if the contagiousness started out strong, but as time passed, they are used as a less 'prominent' thing. Ley Nefel was a villain that appeared from the start, Chevalier wasn't present in the initial lineup of Fiveman villains, the Flower Kunoichi Gang, while recurring, weren't such big guns in the ranks of Daimaou's army and don't have much of personalities to write home about, and... the ones voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida are just monster of the weeks, except maybe the recurring one in Dekaranger (Hells), but he didn't last very long (though he did get one episode arc), and probably the rest of the monsters he voiced only lasts one episode. We do not know if this would mean that in future Sentai series, they may pick one of the casts of Shinkenger to be a villain or sort. Hey, it could happen.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Goggle Pink & Cutey Honey: Based on?



Much after seeing lots of information sites here and there (wikipedia included), I found out that Miki Momozono AKA Goggle Pink is apparently based on the main character of a manga by Go Nagai (of Mazinger Z/Getter Robo's fame): Cutey Honey.



Granted, I haven't even gotten into the Cutey Honey fandom, so I'm more or less limited to the basic knowledge. About Honey can change costumes, is young, etc. And that she debuts first before there was Super Sentai.

Still, when comparing Miki with her... other than the costume change, I can't find any other similarities between Miki and Honey. And if it's costume change that is highlighted... well, as far as I remember, other previous Sentai heroines (Peggy/Momoranger from Goranger, Karen/Heart Queen from JAKQ, both Miss Americas from BFJ and Akira/Denzi Pink from Denziman) are all capable of costume switches for disguises as well, so it's not like Miki is singled out in that department. When she can switch costumes and she is considered to be based on Honey, how come that doesn't apply to the heroines before her? What was the element that makes Miki 'based on' Honey, other than costume switch?

This is one question that has been bugging me for a bit, and I curse my lack of knowledge on Cutey Honey to get to the bottom of this. So if you had answers (especially those who KNOW about Cutey Honey more than the basic info), I'll most appreciate it.

Pairing Talk: Shinkenger

Okay, this is the first of my talk about how the pairings (or shipping, if you prefer) of characters in Super Sentai. I'll talk about possible hypothetical pairings if I can, but since I'm very much a straight guy, I'll probably avoid talking about same-sex pairings.

This post is purely opinion. You may or may not agree. If you don't, then I hope you don't gun me down with an uzi as vengeance. So without further ado, let's begin with our first subject.



Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, being one of the more popular Sentai series, is obviously attracting a lot of shipping enthusiast. Now let's take a look at the pairings available here.



Early episodes showed possible pairs of Ryuunosuke and Mako. He is the first 'victim' of her hug, and also the first one we know to eat her horrid cooking. Unfortunately for Ryuunosuke, he's still in the phase of 'being annoying'. Yes, I know, there's such time for Ryuunosuke to be considered 'really irritating' to the audience. So, after Mako restored his spirit from 'depressed' to 'overdramatically annoying', Mako immediately shoved him off. So there goes the Ryuunosuke X Mako ship. Over time, Ryuunosuke develops and becomes less annoying, and Mako is at least more accepting to him. Still, the damage is pretty much done, and they usually keep their relationship in a professional way, rather than mending their romantic relationship. Personally, while I don't ship them together, I'd say it's quite a waste of potential, for Ryuunosuke to eventually realize why Mako dumped him way back then after he develops. But then again, if he ever tried to be serious on that, we might not be seeing the overacting, spiritful Ryuunosuke we always know and love. Still, an okay shipping.



Then after that, comes Takeru X Mako. Oh boy, this is probably the most preferred pairings in the Shinkenger shipping, especially after the wedding episode. It's just a fake wedding, but dang, you gotta admit that both looked really good on their respective wedding suit & dress. That goes beyond it as well, as episodes passed, Mako showed much concern to Takeru and tried to counterbalance his aloof attitude. No matter how Takeru tried to distance himself, Mako still tried to understand him more. End result...? Well, they pretty much didn't develop their relationship further, just limiting with Mako as the usual 'Big Sister' figure. Much to the chargin of lots of shippers (including me. I'm pretty miffed...). Still, if it's about Shinkenger shipping, this is pretty much my fave.



(apologies for the choice of picture since I can't find a high-quality picture of similar thing for Takeru X Kotoha, if we compare with the other pictures I had before)

And then after Mako; Takeru often gets shipped with Kotoha. This is mostly after the butler episode where Takeru pretends to be Kotoha's butler and helps out a bit about her self-esteem. This feeling is mostly one-sided by Kotoha, but it's a rather popular pairing too. It's an okay pairing to me, though I don't quite see the basis other than the butler episode, and Kotoha was just acting with utmost loyalty that she'd give, given her sweet girl personality. Don't kill me, shippers, for just stating my opinion.



If not being with Takeru, Kotoha's other option is Chiaki. We don't know how much Kotoha reciprocates Chiaki's actions to her, but it's clear that Chiaki DOES have feelings to her and does his best to protect and impress him. This is shown when he carried her home on his back after she was fatigued fighting an Ayakashi that attacks people with insults (she's unaffected). Way to go from being normally a jerk who's more concerned in being better than Takeru. They also make a great team when fighting the soul-switching Ayakashi. Though the biggest evidence for this is when Kotoha got her soul sucked by an Ayakashi, Chiaki was visibly pissed off and was the first to try and gamble his humanity by entering the Gedoushuu's realm, just so he can save Kotoha. I'd say this could be my best bet for Kotoha's shipping.


Okay, Sean Akizuki's post inspired me to do this new phenomenon of Genta X Kaoru. So, what can I say about these two's chemistry? Well, I think fans just take things out of proportion. When Kaoru defended Takeru and his vassals, Genta admits that she's a good girl and willingly offered his help. That's it. And fans think that they could make a good couple. A good battle couple, maybe. But lovey-dopey couple? It's like Genta would eventually say, "All right, Take-chan! Now you can call me 'Papa'!". To me, that's... awkward. But that's how shipping community goes, sometimes they take the littlest slight of interaction as a reason of "They're a good couple!". That's just how it works in this crazy little world of ours. Final words? I'm... slightly against this coupling, but I'll not attack those who supports it.

Well that'd be all from me about Shinkenger pairings. If I do find out on something to say about other pairs like Ryuunosuke X Kotoha, Chiaki X Mako.

(Images taken from Kandou Erik's Super Sentai Images blog and Supersentai Time Capsule. You guys rock, man)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

What I have in plan so far

Well, obviously since I'm going to fill in this blog, here's what I have in mind in near future (for Super Sentai series):
1. Matching Weapons & Color in Super Sentai
2. Top 10 Super Sentai Ladies
3. Character Focus
4. Pairing

The first post should be similar if you follow blogs like Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog. It's something similar to that, just different topic. The second one is exactly what it says on the tin. The third one is basically a write-up focusing on a character I pick at random (male or female), which will include a bio about history, fighting style, personality & trait, and how I overall think of the character. The fourth one is where I dwelve into some pairings that have been in Super Sentai, be they official pairing or just teases here and there. Or fan speculation pairs.

The last 2 would be a serial, which means, more than one entry will be present in the future.

I'll see you later!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

A common misconception of Goggle V


Dai Sentai Goggle V is one of the earlier Sentai, and incidentally, it's the first Sentai I ever watched. Of course I liked it, I even went as far as watching the RAWs. The story is pretty simplistic about good vs evil. As noted by Fantasy Leader of the Valsag Fantasy blog, story themes weren't really touched in, it's just about a group of people from various background, being called by a scientist to fight against an evil empire.

Unfortunately, these series often receive a very common misconception, to the point that while it was well liked by children, some older fans would attack it and consider it bad. Although the heat has died down a little, I feel that I must address this issue, so there's no misunderstanding.



The main misconception of Goggle V is that the team is often thought as a Rhythmic Gymnastic team. On the first glance, it may seem so that their weapons are based on Rhythmic Gymnastic apparatus, such as whips, clubs, hula hoop (seen above), ball and ribbon. Since this Sentai series has aged, and there's still no subbing, lots of fans didn't even bother seeing it, one glance and they deem it 'silly, kiddy Sentai', kinda like how they reacted after watching the likes of Carranger or Go-Onger (deliberately made for humor).

What they missed by not watching it is that the team is actually not a Rhythmic Gymnastic team AT ALL. The team is actually just several people gathered under a scientist to fight evil using proper science. The weapons may appear like gymnastic apparatus, but that's as far as it goes. It's ONLY ON THE LOOK. Just because they use gymnastic apparatus, doesn't mean they're a gymnastic team!

The team itself are not a whole gymnasts gathering under one team. Goggle Red/Kenichi Akama is a mountain climber, Goggle Black/Kanpei Kuroda is... a chess club president. Goggle Blue/Aoyama Saburou is a hockey player, who had a side-dream as an inventor, while Goggle Yellow/Futoshi Kijima is a worker at zoo. Now, the last member, Goggle Pink/Miki Momozono is an actual gymnast, but only one gymnast and the rest of the team are using weapons that are gymnast apparatuses, and the whole team is deemed a gymnastic team? Really? Do you really think a mountain climber, a chess club president, a hockey player and a zoo worker would count as gymnasts? They actually had other jobs!

This gets even worse in the song Super Sentai Tamashii, which describes most of the Super Sentai's profiles. Apparently, they also take the misconception and ran with it, citing that Goggle V is a rhythmic gymnastic team. This Sentai team just can't seem to live that down...

Maybe this blog are not really a blog that is read a lot, but if you're reading this, then I hope that you now realize that Goggle V is not a Sentai about rhythmic gymnastics. It may use gymnastic weapons, but this is not about gymnastics being used to fight evil. Not many realize this since this is an old Sentai series and not subbed, so they don't even bother to find out. I know each Sentai will always have its own haters, but perhaps if the misconception is lifted, those who hated Goggle V might lessen. Who knows.

'Course, I'm just human and I can make mistakes sometimes. If you spot a mistake, please let me know through comment, and I may fix this post with more accurate and sensible information.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Intro to Super Sentai

If you grow up in America, you probably would know Power Rangers. Teenagers with attitude fighting against evil wearing spandex with snazzy helmets. However, years before there was Power Rangers, there was... Super Sentai, in Japan.



Sentai means 'task force', this is more or less referred in the show as a group of men banding together to fight for a common cause, usually defending justice in a way or another, while wearing colorful outfits. This series is heavily inspired by the anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. See, this franchise was at first not called Super Sentai, but just Sentai.

After the success of Kamen Rider franchise, Shotaro Ishinomori decided to give another go in costumed heroes, this time taking homage to Gatchaman, thus creating the show Himitsu Sentai Goranger. It was successful, spawning over 80 episodes (not as much as the first Kamen Rider, but still, you know it's successful). Later, Ishinomori decided to create another Sentai show named JAKQ Dengekitai. However, the show ended up cancelled due to some unfortunate situations (theme too dark for kids, etc). It only aired 35 episodes. Though there's also a team-up movie with Goranger, which would become a staple of the franchise once they get considered into the franchise.

Later, Toei co-worked with Marvel to create a Toku show based on the super hero Spider-Man, only that the only thing the show had in common with the comic book hero was just Spider-Man and his costume, the rest is completely original. For instance, Spidey has a giant robot! It's a crazy concept, but it inspired Toei to pitch in another idea for a new Sentai show.

The show is called Battle Fever J, planning to capture the feel of Captain America in Japan, basically trying to create 'Captain Japan' or sorts, but it grew on its own. The giant robot element from Spider-Man is implemented in Battle Fever J, thus the series finally got a new name: Super Sentai.

After Battle Fever J, more Super Sentai shows were released, and it wasn't until years later that Toei decided to add in Goranger and JAKQ as part of the franchise.



Me, while Super Sentai was part of my childhood, it wasn't until now thanks to some of my friends and some well-known Sentai bloggers here like Sean Akizuki and Fantasy Leader that my interest to Sentai grew and grew. Just remember that while I will talk a lot about Sentai, I also have the right to speak about other topics.

At any rate, here's the list of Super Sentai shows that have aired, along with which ones I have finished watching and which ones I am currently watching (so we know what Sentai shows I would cover):
-Himitsu Sentai Goranger (1975-1977)
-JAKQ Dengekitai (1977)
-Battle Fever J (1979)
-Denshi Sentai Denziman (1980)
-Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan (1981)
-Dai Sentai Goggle Five (1982) - FINISHED
-Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (1983) - FINISHED
-Choudenshi Bioman (1984) - In Progress
-Dengeki Sentai Changeman (1985) - FINISHED
-Choushinsei Flashman (1986) - FINISHED
-Hikari Sentai Maskman (1987) - FINISHED
-Choujuu Sentai Liveman (1988) - FINISHED
-Kousoku Sentai Turboranger (1989) - FINISHED
-Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman (1990) - FINISHED
-Choujin Sentai Jetman (1991) - FINISHED
-Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (1992) - FINISHED (rewatching TV-Nihon's sub)
-Gosei Sentai Dairanger (1993) - In Progress
-Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994) - FINISHED
-Chouriki Sentai Ohranger (1995)
-Gekisou Sentai Carranger (1996)
-Denji Sentai Megaranger (1997) - FINISHED
-Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (1998) - In Progress
-Rescue Sentai GoGoFive (1999)
-Mirai Sentai Timeranger (2000) - In Progress
-Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger (2001)
-Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger (2002) - FINISHED
-Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (2003) - FINISHED
-Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (2004) - FINISHED
-Mahou Sentai Magiranger (2005)
-Go Go Sentai Boukenger (2006) - FINISHED
-Juken Sentai Gekiranger (2007) - FINISHED
-Engine Sentai Go-onger (2008)
-Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (2009) - FINISHED
-Tensou Sentai Goseiger (2010)
-Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (2011) - In Progress

This list will be updated occasionally.

And yes, before you go on, please know that I have nothing against the Power Rangers franchise. I don't hate it, but I don't really follow it. I may know some things about Power Rangers, but don't expect me to know a lot (or even spew hatred! That's beyond me!)

First Post

Hello for the first post.

I come in many names, though mostly either ChrisX, Neo Juste Belmont or Bloody Tears. As some of my names refer, my names were taken from Castlevania, and although I don't play it very much, it's still one of my favorite franchises.

Still, this is not a Castlevania blog. This blog more or less contains whatever I had in mind in terms of fictional verses. Be they anime, video games, tokusatsu, or anything.

Current mood, though... Tokusatsu (will change over time, but who knows!)