Sentai writers by episodes: the Taketara/ Kobayashi era

Gekisou Sentai Carranger

Yoshio Urasawa (main writer) : 1-9, 12-13, 16-17, 20-22, 24, 27-32, 35-37, 46-48 (29 eps)
Hirohisa Soda : 10, 14, 18, 38-39, 44 (6 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa : 11, 15, 19, 23, 25-26, 33-34, 40-43, 45 (13 eps)

Denji Sentai Megaranger

Junki Takegami (main writer) : 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 12-14, 19-21, 27, 30, 38-39, 42-43, 46, 48, 50 (22 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa : 4, 7, 10-11, 17-18, 22, 28, 33, 37, 51 (11 eps)
Shigeru Yanagawa : 15, 23, 29, 34, 45 (5 eps)
Yasuko Kobayashi: 16, 24-26, 31-32, 35-36, 40-41, 44, 47, 49 (13 eps)

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman

Yasuko Kobayashi (main writer) : 1-7, 10-13, 16-20, 22-26, 29-31, 33-38, 40-42, 44, 46 ( written with 村山桂 (sorry, I don't know how it's spelled) 48-50 (38 eps)
Junki Takegami : 8-9, 15, 28, 32 (5 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa : 14, 21, 27, 45 (4 eps)
Tsuyoshi Kida : 39, 47 (2 eps)
沖田徹男 (sorry, dunno how it's spelled)  : 43 (1 ep)
村山桂 : 46 (written with Kobayashi)

Kyuukyuu Sentai GogoFive

Junki Takegami (main writer) : 1-3, 5, 7, 11-12, 18, 21-22, 25-26, 29-30, 33, 37-38, 42-43, 47-50 (23 eps)
Junichi Miyashita : 4, 9, 14, 17, 23, 31, 35, 40 (8 eps)
Yasuko Kobayashi: 6, 8, 13, 16, 19-20, 27, 32, 34, 41, 46 (11 eps)
Ryota Yamaguchi : 10, 15, 24, 28, 36, 39, 44-45 (8 eps)

Mirai Sentai Timeranger (I don't count the special super sentai retrospective ep)

Yasuko Kobayashi (main writer) : 1-7, 9-11, 13, 15, 18-21, 24-31, 33-34, 36-44, 46-50 (40 eps)
Ryota Yamaguchi : 8, 12, 16-17, 23, 32, 35, 45 (8 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 14, 22 (2 eps)

Sentai writer per episodes: Jetman and the Sugimura era

Chojin Sentai Jetman

Toshiki Inoue (main writer): 1-7, 12-14, 17-18, 22-24, 30-32, 36-37, 42-45, 47-51 ( 29 eps)
Kenichi  Araki : 8, 16, 20-21, 25, 27, 33, 35, 40-41, 46 (11 eps)
Hirouki Kawasaki : 9 (1 ep)
Naruhisa Arakawa: 10, 19, 26, 28, 34, 39 (6 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 11 (1 ep)
Mami Watanabe: 15, 29 (co written with 八渡直樹 (sorry, dunno how it's spelled in Romanji or Hiragana) (2 eps)
増田貴彦 (sorry): 38 (1 ep)

Kyoryuu sentai Zyuranger

Noboru Sugimura (main writer): 1-6, 7 (co-written with Araki), 8-10, 11 (co-written with Araki), 14-15, 17-23, 28-31, 34, 36-37, 40-42, 47-50 (34 eps)
Kenichi Araki : 7, 11 ( both co-written with Sugimura) (2 eps)
Susumu Takaku :  12, 16, 25, 35, 39, 45 (6 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa : 13, 24, 32, 38, 43-44, 46 (7 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 26  (1 ep)
Kyoko Sagiyama : 27, 33 (2 eps)

Gosei Sentai Dairanger

Noboru Sugimura (main writer) : 1-4, 7-8, 13-14, 17-18, 21-22, 28-32, 37-38, 42-46, 49-50 (26 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa : 5-6, 11, 15, 19-20, 24, 33, 40, 47-48 (11 eps)
Kunio Fujii: 9-10, 16, 23, 36, 41 (6 eps)
Susumu Takaku: 12, 25, 34 (3 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 26-27, 35, 39 (4 eps)

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger

Noboru Sugimura (main writer) : 1-6, 9, 12, 14-16, 18-20, 23-26, 28-31, 36-37, 39, 42-44, 50-53 (32 eps)
Naruhisa Arakawa: 7, 35 (2 eps)
Susumu Takaku : 8, 10-11, 33, 40, 47 (6 eps)
Hirohisa Soda: 13, 17, 21-22, 27, 34, 38, 41, 45-46, 48-49 (12 eps)
Kunio Fujii: 32 (1 ep)

Choriki Sentai Ohranger

Noboru Sugimura (main writer) : 1-4, 6-8, 12, 17-18, 26-28, 32, 37-41, 45-48 (23 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 5, 9, 15, 23 (4 eps)
Shouzo Uehara : 10, 14, 25, 29-31, 43 (7 eps)
Hirohisa Soda : 11,16, 19-22, 33-36, 42, 44 (12 eps)
Susumu Takaku : 13, 24 (2 eps)

Sentai writers per episodes: Soda era

Hi
Fantasy Leader has started bringing us in his awesome blog the names of the writers of each sentai series, and which episodes they have written.
Here are the two posts he's done:
-   http://valsagfantasy.blogspot.fr/2012/12/sentai-writers-per-episode-ishinomori.html
-   http://valsagfantasy.blogspot.fr/2012/12/sentai-writers-per-episode-uehara-era.html
 Since he's stopped at the Uehara era, I've decided to take over and show to the fans the writers for following sentai series

Dai sentai Goggle V:

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-7, 9-10, 13-16, 21-22, 26, 28, 30, 34-36, 38, 40-41, 46-50 (29 eps)
Tomomi Tsutsui: 8, 11, 17, 32 (4 eps)
松本功 (I apologize, because I don't know how to find his name in romanji or even in hiragana) : 12, 19, 24-25, 29, 37, 45 (7 eps)
Akiyoshi Sakai : 18, 23, 27, 42 (4 eps)
Kyoko Sagiyama : 20, 31, 33, 39, 44 (5 eps)
由起佳 (sorry again) : 43 (1 ep)

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman :

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-5, 8-9, 15-17, 20-21, 29-40, 42-43, 45, 47-51 (32 eps)
三木孝祐 (sorry) : 6 (1 ep)
Kyoko Sagiyama : 7, 13, 18, 23, 46 (5 eps)
Kenji Terata: 10-11, 14, 27-28 (5 eps)
松本功 : 12, 19, 26, 41, 44 (5 eps)
Ichiro Yamanaka (hope the spelling is correct): 22 (1 ep)
吉田竣売 (sorry): 24-25 (2 eps)
Episode 32 is a TV adaptation of the movie written by Hirohisa Soda.

Choudenshi Bioman :

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-8, 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22, 25-26, 28, 30-38, 40, 43-44, 47-51 (37 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 9, 12, 23, 45 (4 eps)
Kyoko Sagiyama : 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 29, 41, 46 (8 eps)
Yuu Yamamoto: 39 (1 ep)
Takeshi Narumi : 42 (1 ep)

Dengeki Sentai Changeman

Hirohisa Soda (Main writer) : 1-6, 9, 12-14, 17-21, 24-25, 27, 32-36, 38-40, 42-45, 47-55 (39 eps)
Kunio Fujii :  7-8, 10-11, 16, 23, 26, 29-31, 37, 41, 46 (13 eps)
Kyoko Sagiyama : 15, 22, 28 (3 eps)

Choushinsei Flashman:

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-6, 8-9, 11-12, 15-19, 23-24, 26, 28-33, 36, 39, 41-50  (36 eps)
Kunio Fujii: 7, 10, 13, 20, 22, 34, 37 (7 eps)
Toshiki Inoue: 14, 27, 35, 38 (4 eps)
Michiru Shimada : 21 (1 ep)
照井啓司  (sorry) : 25 (1 ep)
Takao Nagaishi : 40 (also director) (1 ep)

Hikari Sentai Maskman

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-6, 10, 12, 14, 19-25, 27-32, 35-36, 38, 41, 43-51 (35 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 7, 9, 11, 15, 17-18, 26, 33, 37, 40 (10 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 8, 13, 16, 34, 39, 42 (6 eps)

Chojuu Sentai Liveman

Hirohisa Soda (main writer): 1-7, 10-14, 16, 19-23, 25-31, 33, 37-38, 41-49 (37 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 8, 17-18, 24, 32, 34-35, 39 (8 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 9, 15, 36, 40 (4 eps)

Kousoku Sentai Turboranger (I count starting with episode 2, which is the first true episode of Turboranger)

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 2-6, 8, 11, 14-16, 18, 21-22, 24-25, 28-34, 37, 39-41, 45-51  (33 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 7, 9-10,  12-13, 17, 23, 36, 42 (9 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 19-20, 26, 35, 43 (5 eps)
Mami Watanabe: 27, 38, 44 (3 eps)

Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman

Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-5, 7, 9, 12-15, 19-21, 23-26, 28-31, 33-34, 37-38, 42-48 (33 eps)
Mami Watanabe: 6, 16, 22, 36, 40 (5 eps)
Kunio Fujii : 8, 11, 17, 35, 41 (5 eps)
Toshiki Inoue : 10, 18, 27, 32, 39 (5 eps)

If anyone knows how to spell the names of the writers I've left in Kanji, thank you

Toku Warriors episodes (4-7)

The Toku Warriors have done quite a few episodes since begins night 2, so here they are and I hope you enjoy.

Episode 4:

Episode 5:

Episode 6:

Episode 7:

Power Rangers MegaForce: First Episode Impressions

I haven't been this excited for PR premiere in a while. Saban definitely went all out with the marketing for this season.

The theme song is ok, like Samurai it is just another version of the MMPR theme just with the words changed a bit and "MegaForce" added to the lyrics.

Overall it was a nice first episode with some nice little references. Normally I don't like series that try to make money soley off nostalgia (some exceptions of being series like Gokaiger). I love the feel to the rangers and the return of the unmorphed fights, something we haven't seen a long time. The premiere brought back some good memories of MMPR and gave nods to other PR seasons, my personal favorite being the return of the established "hangout". This one being very aptly named "Ernie's". I feel it is a nice throwback to both MMPR and a way to pay respect to the actor who played Ernie who died a while back. They also used the phrase "Its morphin' time" before saying their actual morphing phrase "Go Go MegaForce".

As for the rangers themselves, its a nice bunch of high school kids, each one seemingly very unique.

Troy: The new kid in town and leader of the team. He seems to have a background in martial arts.
Noah: The science guy. I see him as a new take on Billy from MMPR. The way he fought unmorphed seems to be a reference to Bulk and Skull in MMPR with him inadvertantly hitting the enemy while trying to avoid them.
Jake: The athletic one. His unmorphed fight in the episode was actually kind of creative and was my favorite. You get to see him fighting off the foot soldiers (I refuse to call them Loogies) by kicking around a soccer ball.
Gia: The popular girl off the group. I like how they made her the popular girl and didn't take the obvious route and making Emma the popular one. Like Troy she seems to have some martial arts skills.
Emma: She is the enviromentalist type and cares greatly for nature. She seems to have a bit of creativity in battle, such as when she was unmorphed and being overwhelmed by the foot soldiers, she blinded them with a camera flash and proceeded to kick their butts.

Now for something that I know caused a bit of debate between me and a few friends: The use of the ranger keys. The ranger keys are indeed in the show though at this point they are just "window-dressing" for the command center. Though they do give a bit of creedience to the rumor that was floating around a while back that GokaiSilver may appear in season 2 of MegaForce.

Overall an excellent premiere episode with a nice bit of nostalgia. My only real complaint about the premiere is that at the end, they had Emma re-use Kimberly's worst line from MMPR, "The helmet messes up my hair.". Even if she was just joking that is still the dumbest thing you could have her say.

But anyways, it was an excellent start for the season. All in all I give the first episode an 8.9 out of 10.

The Soda era of sentai: the golden age of sentai villains

Mess (Flashman, top), Tube (Maskman, middle) and Volt (Liveman, bottom): classic examples of Soda villain groups

As a very long running franchise, Super Sentai has evolved a lot during all the years. However, I feel that it's during the sentai era when Hirohisa Soda was the head writer (all sentai series from Goggle V through Fiveman) that the franchise was at its best regarding the villains.
Here are the reasons why I think so:

1) The villains goup had a very well established organization: there were the Big Bad, the leader of the villain group; three generals (at least one of them being female), some of them having personal subordonates, who were fighting for them ; often a comic relief villain, and a new enemy appearing during the series. That pattern allowed to have a colorful villain cast, with interesting interactions between the villains: how the general behaved with their leader, the rivalries between the different generals, which were even more highlighted when the new enemy, who often could become a new general, appeared; the relationship between the general and his (or her) faithful subordinate, usually showing a huge devotion the general's follower had for his (or her) leader. Al those elements helped to create a very dynamic villain group to oppose the heroes

2) Most of the main villains were human looking villains, played by actors, and not suit actor and seiyuu; I really like more when it's that way, because having an actor play a villain allowed to show the villain's emotions much better, because it allows to see the expression in his (or her) face. Besides, it makes the fights between the heroes and the villains feel more intense, stronger, because it makes heroes and villains look more similar in a way, as true warriors. Besides, during that era, Toei had used amazing actors to play the villains: classic toku villain actors, like Masashi Ishibashi (General Kar, Lehda) or Hirohisa Nakata (Mason); impressive actors like Jouji Nakata (Sir Kaura, Professor Bias), Yutaka Hirose (Ley Wanda, Kemp), Munemaru Kōda (Dr Man), or the suit actor Yoshinori Okamoto (Buuba, Ashura) or actresses like Fukumi Kuroda (Ahames) or Akiko Amamatsuri (Mazenda); even actors having played sentai heroes before could play villain like former Dynapink Sayoko Hagiwara (Ley Nefel), or former Green Flash Kihachirō Uemura (Chevalier in Fiveman)

3) The main villains were often directly involved in the action; they didn't merely send the mooks and MOTW fight the heroes, but also could fight against them on a regular basis, and that helped a lot build even more the rivalry between heroes and villains, and make the fight between them even more intense. Sometimes, that villain could be even seem invincible: some great examples are Bio Hunter Silva, Ahames, Sir Kaura. The fact that some of the villains were played by actors who know how to fight help; the best examples are Yoshinori Okamoto, and the actresses playing the female fighters.

4) In most cases, the villains weren't merely the type "MUAHAHAHA, I'm evil, I'm gonna take over the world, make human suffer"; in a lot of cases, they showed interesting personalities. Sometimes they had painful stories; like how the Gozma generals were forced to fight for Bazoo because otherwise, their home planets would be destroyed forever; or how Yamimaru, as a half Boma was forced to wander alone in the world, behing an outcast among both humans and Boma, and how Kirika, discovering she's half Boma, had to find her true path. Sometimes, they showed arrogance and pride, but beneath that, those villains felt a lot of doubt, and insecure feelings within themselves; some examples are most of the Volt generals, like Ashura, Mazenda, and especially Gou Omura. Sometimes, they had their own agenda, very different from the main villains's ; like Kiros in Maskman, Bio Hunter Silver in Bioman. Even, in some cases, some villains could realize the errors of their way, eventually switch sides and try to find redemption: some good examples are Gator, Shima, Oblar/ Gou Omura, Kirika. Of course, in most cases, the villains stayed evil until the end, and could show impressive cruelty. but it allowed to widen the ranger of personalities within the main villain groups


All of those elements may also be found in series not penned by Soda. But never all those four elements have been present together in such a consistent way than in the Soda era of sentai, and that's why I feel that the Soda era of sentai has been the golden age for sentai villains

Bakuryuu and endings in Abaranger episodes; Engines and narration in Go-onger episodes

Abaranger and Go-onger each have talking mechas, who are in fact pretty much characters in their respective series. And in each of those series, a mecha has a special role in an episode; in Abaranger, in each episode, just before the ending, a Bakuryuu introduces the stinger; and in Go-onger, in each episode, an Engine is a narrator.
Let's see how each Bakuryuu and each Engine are involved

Let's begin with Abaranger, and which Bakuryuu is involved in the endings:

Tyranno appears the most with 14 episodes; Brachio is second with 11, Triceratops (kera) is third with 9, Ptera comes next with 7.
Topugeira appears in 3, and each one of the others (Stego (17), Pachycero (49), Paras (33), Dimenocodon(42) and Ankylo (26)) appear once; the last one , no Bakuryu appears, but it's Yatsudenwani who takes the spot.

Now, after the numbers, which Bakuryu appears in what kind of episodes:
Tyranno: appears through the whole series, but a little less during the middle; he is of course present in Ryouga centric episodes (3, 9, 25, 37) but also in some plot heavy ones (but less important than Brachio's) or with new Bakuryu arrivals (episode 1, 7, 12-13,16, 31, 38, 46 ) and in some fillers (44, 45)
Kera: as expected in Yukito focused episodes (2,5, 10, 15, 24, 27,36) and some Abarekiller focused episodes (18 and 23); most of his episodes are in the first half of the series
Ptera: as expected too, in Ranru focused episodes (4,6, 14, 21, 35) but also in the Emi-pon episode (11) (so to sum up, Ptera is in the girl centric episodes) and in one of the episodes introducing Abarekiller (19): like Kera, most of them are in the first half
Brachio: two notables points: he is mostly in the second half (9 of his 11 episodes) and never in filler episodes: he appears in the most plot heavy, epic and dramatic episodes (which are mostly in the second half) either about Asuka and Mahoro (8, 28, 32, 39, 40, 47) or Abarekiller ones (20, 30, 34, 43, 48): as the most serious and wise Bakuryu, he appears in the most serious episodes
Topugeira : he appears in episodes where important events about Mikoto begins ( 22, 29 (his bonding with Lije) and 41 (the reveal about him and the Big Bad)
the others : it's mostly random, they appear mostly in the second half, either in fillers (17, 26) , plot heavy ones (42, 49) or in between (33)
and in the finale, it's the sympathetic Yatsudenwani who's there.

and let's check now Go-onger; it's gonna be shorter, first, because it's more difficult to really do a fine analysis, and then, because I'm more an Aba fan than a Go-on fan :
Speedor is by far the most frequent narrator, with 15 episodes, including the first and last one; Buson comes next with 8, closely followed by Gumpherd, with 7; next comes BearV with 5 episodes, then Carrigator and Birca are tied with 4 each; Jumbowhale comes next with 3, and finally, Triptor and Jetras come last with 2 each
The identity of the narrator doesn't mean that the episode is automatically focused about his (or her) human partner, although it's often the case: some example: Speedor narrates the girl power episode, and a go on gold focused episode was narrated by Buson; besides, engines could be narrators of either fillers or key episodes; no real discrimination between them