Tokkyuger Cast Confirmed!!!!!

Here is as follows:

Light/Tokkyu 1-Jun Shison (18)

Tonkachi/Tokkyu 2-Jin Hiramaki (26)

Mio/Tokkyu 3-Riria (20)

Hikari/Tokkyu 4-Ryusei Yokohama (17)

Kagura/Tokkyu 5-Ai Moritaka (15)

 

What are your thoughts on our new cast for next year?

Tokkyuger's Opening and Ending Themes confirmed!!!

So yesterday, we got some confirmations on what the Opening and Ending themes will be for Tokkyuger and who will be the singers behind them. Here is as follows:



Opening Theme: Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger by Daiki Ise

Ending Theme: Byun Byun Tokkyuger by Project R. (YOFFY, Takayoshi Tanimoto, & Showgo Kamata)

So next year, we'll have some veterans and a newbie taking charge. For those who don't know, Daiki Ise sang one of the insert songs in Kyoryuger: Gaburincho of Music. YOFFY is the vocalist for Psychic Lover who sang Dekaranger & Shinkenger's opening as well as Boukenger's ending, Takayoshi Tanimoto sang Gekiranger's opening, and Shogo Kamata sang Kyoryuger's opening.

What do you think of having these guys doing Tokkyuger's Opening & Ending themes?

Tokkyuger Staff Revealed!!!

That's right after much waiting, a Japanese magazine finally revealed the staff for the 2014 Sentai, Tokkyuger!


The staff is as followed; The head producer will be Takaaki Utsunomiya and Kei Ishikawa from Toei.  The head writer will be Yasuko Kobayashi.  The main Director will be Shojiro Nakazawa, Action Director will be Hirofumi Fukuzawa, and Special Effects Director will be Hiroshi Butsuda.

The staff of producer Takaaki Utsunomiya, writer Yasuko Kobayashi, and director Shojiro Nakazawa is a reunion of the same staff that worked on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. 

(Looks like the team behind this is back again with much more "imagination")

Other works that Utsunomiya is known for as head producer are Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, and Kamen Rider Wizard.  Yasuko Kobayashi is also known for her works as head writer for Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, Mirai Sentai Timeranger, Kamen Rider Ryuki, Pretty Guardian Sailormoon, Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider OOO, and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters.  Nakazawa is also known for being the main director of Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger and Kamen Rider Wizard.

More information on the cast will be expected to be released in the first week of January.

What are your thoughts on this staff news?  Comment below and share your thoughts.

Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger will be the 38th entry in the Super Sentai franchise, the story 
revolves around the Tokkyugers protecting the "Rainbow Line" which is the route of light from the evil known as "Shadow."  It is set to be released February 16th, 2014.

My current Kamen Rider rankings

I figured it was time for me to hammer out a list like this sooner or later so I'm going to rank all the riders I've seen so far. At the time of this post I have seen Ryuki, Faiz, W, Decade, Fourze, Wizard, 1/4 of Amazon, half of Den-O, half of Kiva, one episode of Hibiki and have seen 9 or 10 eps into Gaim. For the purposes of this list, I am not counting Gaim for now because I'm not really sure where I stand on it this early. I won't be counting Amazon either since I've only seen 1/4 of it. Hibiki will also not be on this list since I haven't seen past episode one. Kiva and Den-O will get a separate section from the completed series. I will most likely do an updated list once I finished more rider series.

5. Kamen Rider Faiz/Kamen Rider Decade:

I'll start with Faiz first. Well how do I put this one? This show earned this spot for the simple reason that I didn't particularly care for any of the characters outside of Kiba. The way it handled the characters is the big problem I had with the show. I found it really difficult to support any of the three riders. Shuji/Delta was a crybaby the entire time even to the point where he almost died because he refused to fight. Kusaka/Kaixa just infuriated me throughout the entire show if you saw my "most aggravating rider character list" then you already know why I hate the guy so I'm not going to repeat myself. Inoue seems to like Kusaka alot to let him do what he does with little to no repercussions, it also leads to a plot-hole involving him later in the series. Takumi/Faiz isn't necessarily a bad character, he just wasn't a lead character that I could get behind. Of the three, he is the one most I'm neutral on. Kiba was my favorite character in the show due to his drive to hold on to his humanity while others carelessly tossed away their attachments to their human-selves. He even went so far as to urge fledgling Orphenocs not to turn their backs on what they once were. The heroes in general seem to have some major communication problems and don't really seem to trust each other enough to tell them that something is wrong other than when Orphenocs are attacking. To make matters worse, they took Kiba the one character I actually liked and made him do a complete 180 near the end just to increase the already depressing and dreary mood in Faiz. He was a ray of hope in the dreary world of Faiz but Inoue just had to do that to him. Coupled with that and the personalities of its riders, Faiz's ending is also less than satisfactory. It has an alternate ending in its movie "Paradise Lost" though that ending is about on par with the series ending for me.

Decade:

This show is on par with Faiz for me because of one simple reason: The Story. The overall story of Decade is supposedly about stopping the worlds from colliding but it just gets lost in all the jumping from world to world. It is ultimately forgotten about until the last few episode when Shocker completely comes out of nowhere. It had potential and interesting but they just didn't know how to handle it. To top it all of the story doesn't get finished in the series, it gets dragged into Decade's movie. Like Faiz, I don't really care for many of the characters. Tsukasa is just someone I absolutely cannot get behind as a hero thanks in large part to his arrogant attitude. The only episodes I found particularly memorable were Ryuki's world, Amazon's world, and Black's/Rx's episodes. I think it would've benefited more from being a 50 episode long series so they could have time to explain things more clearly. Its really a shame the series has so many issues because I do like Decade's suit a lot. It also has one of my favorite theme songs in the franchise.

4. Kamen Rider Wizard:

It was a little more enjoyable than Faiz and Decade for me. For the most part, I found it boring and with a gaping plot-hole involving the Carbuncle Phantom near the end. Its plot progression is slow for me and it is badly paced with most of it being filler. Its Dragon Style arc is my least favorite arc in the show because it did nothing at all for its story and felt more like it was just toy-spamming. I don't hate this show and at most I'm indifferent to it. I don't really care for its concept of magic and I think Magiranger handled it better with their concept of magic being tied to courage. It worked much better because their magic grew stronger as they grew as people and it helped developed their characters while with Haruto, his magical strength is dependent on how many rings he has. I found Kousuke and his life or death situation to be more interesting than Haruto. Its really a shame that the show bored me like it did because I actually like Wizard's and Beast's suit designs. The Wizard/Gaim special actually poses an interesting question in regards to Wiseman: The magic stone in the special held an alternate universe and in the show the magic stones came from Wiseman, so does that mean Wiseman could create alternate universes?

3. Kamen Rider W:

I did enjoy W quite a bit. I really liked the concept of his form changes and how he can mix and match them using the memories. My personal favorite form in W is Luna Trigger. The story was awesome and I really liked the concept of the un-refined memories acting like drugs and getting their users more addicted to the power as shown in the story of the Bird Dopant. I like the chemistry that Shoutaro and Phillip have and how they play off each other. I've even caught myself doing Phillip's search pose when I get stressed out and need to cool my head. I know a lot of the fandom would find Akiko annoying but I actually like her character. Accel was awesome and I really liked his tale of revenge with the Weather Dopant. The Weather Dopant is one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen. He is at Long's level of unsettling for me and his performance made my skin crawl. The Dopants themselves had some really nice variety in terms of designs and abilities. Before watching this series I didn't think it was possible to create an interesting/convincing monster with powers based around money.

2. Kamen Rider Fourze:

I know some people will be a bit shocked to see that I ranked Fourze above W but the truth is that Fourze just hits the sweet spot for me. Yeah its goofy and cheesy but it works pretty well for what they were going for, at least to me. While I normally hate the power of friendship concept and the shounen goofball archetype (I've seen it used in far too many anime and it very rarely works out for me), they did relatively well with Gentaro in my opinion. Gentaro is actually one of my favorite riders, he has that personally that makes it so you just can't help but take an interest in the guy. Unlike others in his archetype that usually come off as perfect (the most recent example being Daigo from Kyoryuger), he does have legitimate flaws in his character that help make him an actual character. He is loyal to a fault and values his relationships with people above all else. Cosmic States sums up his personality rather well in my opinion. While people like to complain that Gentaro didn't get enough focus, I don't mind that because in all honesty he doesn't need it. His development took place before the series even began and as such he is used more as a jumping board for the other characters to get their development. I like the Kamen Rider Club members and how they grew from meeting Gentaro. I like both Fourze's and Meteor's suits and I enjoyed Meteor's character arc a lot. I think the high school setting in Fourze worked rather well with when combined with the space motif for Fourze. Like with Wizard, the overall plot-progression is slow but the main difference with Fourze is that the characters had more than enough energy to them so I didn't notice it. Overall Fourze is a very simple series with a very simple but heart-warming message: If you stick by your friends, you can overcome anything.

1. Kamen Rider Ryuki:

Come on, you guys saw this one coming. This one is hands-down my favorite Kamen Rider series and it is usually the first series I recommend to people. It is one of the most unique rider series I've seen. What I like most about it is that its not only the monsters that the riders have to worry about, its a rider fighting for his/her life against other riders, all in an attempt to gain their hearts' desire. Each rider has their own arguably justifiable reason for being in this fight, with the exception of Gai who is just a jerk because he is bored and Ouja who just wants to wreck stuff though Ouja's reason is way more forgivable because he adds a great sense that he is a threat to everyone involved. Zolda's reason for fighting is the most heartbreaking for me as unlike the others, he is quite literally fighting for his life. Like a lot of the early Heisei riders, it does an excellent job creating an unsettling atmosphere. The way it handles transitions between episodes really helps add to the mystery of why they have to fight each other. Each episode has a cliff-hanger style flow to them that left me wanting to watch more and more. I remember saying one day that I was only going to watch 3 episodes for that day and those 3 episodes turned into 6 or 7. Though I'm not going to pretend this show is perfect, it does have a few problems like the ending and Odin but its definitely worth the ride for any Kamen Rider fan. Not all of the riders in the picture appear in the series: Ryuga and Femme only appear in the movie "Episode Final" which is an alternate ending for the series. Verde only appears in the "13 Riders Special". When I heard Gaim was going to have a similar rider war concept I thought "Sweet! I'm sold already!" but sadly I don't feel they're executing it rather well. I still don't get why people are making Ryuki/Gaim comparisons this soon. All they have in common at the moment is that they have riders fighting each other and that is about it.

Series I've haven't finished yet: It should be noted that since I haven't finished either of these series yet, these are only my thoughts as they stand at the moment. My overall thoughts will likely change once I actually get around to finishing these two series.

Kamen Rider Kiva:

This one will be more detailed than the others and will include slight spoilers since we're doing this one on the podcast. I'm somewhat indifferent to this series at the moment. I don't exactly like it but I don't exactly hate it. I've seen up to episode 37 and I honestly don't get why the fandom loves Otoya's comedic antics so much (though he has somwhat grown on me since his introduction). I find him to be kind of annoying, but not so annoying that I might end up hating him. I actually prefer Wataru over Otoya because he is that timid hero type and its really been nice to see him open up to people more. I don't like Nago because he reminds me too much of Kusaka from Faiz, especially when he provoked that frog/toad Fangire into attacking people just so he could have an excuse to kill it. He also has a "holier than thou" attitude that does nothing but aggravate me, though he has gotten a little better in that regard. I absolutely love the use of the stained glass look on the Fangire designs. There are two love triangles in the show, one that happens simply because Otoya doesn't tell Yuri whats going on. The other only happens because the characters suffer from Faiz syndrome where the pivotal character doesn't want to tell the other two a single thing. Yeah I get it, she has that shy timid personality but even with that I think Inoue could've come up with something to get her message across instead of her hiding it from the other two for the sake of drama. The reasoning for why King and Queen do their respective roles in the Checkmate Four doesn't really make much sense to me. Namely why loving humans is illegal or why they want to stop humans from advancing when they can just steal the advancements and apply them to Fangires. Having two stories being told in different times is actually a good idea but all the cutting between the two stories kind of breaks the flow of any fight scenes that are happening at the time and at certain times it doesn't really feel like it needs to happen.

Kamen Rider Den-O:

Like Kiva, I've seen about halfway into this series. The series is about on par with Kiva, though the comedy can be grating at some points. My favorite of the Imagin is Kintaros. The only suit design I don't like in this show is Gun Form and even then I can't quite put my finger on exactly why I don't like it, something about it just seems off. I was kind of hoping that Zeronos would be a more serious rider to help balance out the comedy angle of the show but unfortunately that isn't the case from what I've seen so far. What initially attracted me to this series is its music. I like how a lot of the music used in the show is multiple versions of Climax Jump and Double Action. Double Action Wing form is my favorite piece of music next to the theme song. I'll have to pick it up again at some point.

Ressha Sentai Tokkyuger Casting Rumors

Above are some Tokkyuger cast rumors for the Rangers.

Tokkyu 1-Jun Shison
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/jun-shison-we/

Tokkyu 2-Yuichiro Hirata
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/hirata-yuichiro/

What are your thoughts? Do you think these guys will be our next Heroes? This will be updated as more rumors arrive.

UPDATE (12/20/13): More Casting Rumors

Recently a couple new things popped up regarding Tokkyuger's casting~

Tokkyu 5-Mikan Asakura
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/asakan/

Additionally, we have this picture which has possible filiming as well as the rumored cast. Here we have ideas for our possible Blue, Green and Yellow Rangers (credit to Toku Insider):

Tokkyu 1-Jun Shison (Same as above)

Tokkyu 2-Jin Hiramaki
Blog: http://beamie.jp/t/jin_hiramaki.html

Tokkyu 3-Riria
Blog: http://yaplog.jp/lp-riria/

Tokkyu 4-Ryusei Yokohama
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/ryusei-yokohama/

Official Godzilla Teaser Trailer Finally Revealed!!!!

Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers has finally released the first official teaser trailer for the new Godzilla movie.  Check it out below.

Godzilla is slated to be released May 16th, 2014, it stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Bryan Cranston.  It is directed by Gareth Edwards.

Give your thoughts on the Teaser Trailer in the comments section. 

For more information you can go to:

Official Movie Site

Facebook Page

Super Sentai and family; part 3 : villains have families too, and if they are in opposite sides, it's even more difficult.

Of course, heroes and good guys aren't the only ones to have family : villains can have family as well, and of in a lot of cases, the relationship between villains belonging to a same family can be difficult. Of course, in other cases, despite being evil, the antagonists may be able to feel love and close feelings toward their family. In cases villains and their family are on opposite sides, the conflict might be very harsh.

1)  Villains having family fighting together against the heroes.

The first major example of a villainous family being regular antagonists in Super Sentai is of course the Jashinka empire in Dynaman, who were an evil empire of tailed people. The leader was the Emperor Aton, who had his son Prince Megiddo being the main general, and who was often fighting the Dynaman with mooks and the monsters (the evolution Beast). Soon, Megiddo lost one of his tails in a battle with Dynared, and he was joined by his cousin, Princess Chimera. While they often fought together, they still had some rivalry, often teasing each other, like when Megiddo laughed when her cousin had her clothes stolen by the Dynaman. However, when general Zenobia came, she had emperor Aton imprison his son as a failure, and all his tails cut. However, Megiddo escaped and decided to have his revenge by becoming a lone warrior, the Dark Knight, fighting both the Dynaman  and the Jashinka. He even ended up defeating his own father, but, then, Aton realized the worth of his son, and made him his heir before dying, and it's together with Princess Chimera that Megiddo would fight the last battle with the Dynaman, eventually dying with his cousin.

Grifforzer and Lamie were husband and wife in Zyuranger, and were dangerous enemies to the Zyuranger, especially when working together. They ended up having a son together.
In Kakuranger, Junior/ Gashadokuro was Daimaoh's son, and as a good son, he did everything to bring back his father to Earth. However, while he managed to bring his father back, he was killed in the process, and his father did absolutely not care about his son's death.

Another example is the Baranoia Machine Empire in Ohranger. Emperor Bacchuhund invaded Earth with his wife Empress Hysteria and their son, prince Buldont. While the Baranoia were cruel and heartless towards humans on Earth, they were a very loving family, often showing their deep family bond. When Bacchushund died at the hands of the Ohranger at episode 34, Hysteria and Buldont were overcome by grief, and when, soon after, Bomber the Great came and threatened them, mother and son soon stayed very close to try to protect each other from the arrogant new leader. However,  Hysteria couldn't stop Bomber from defeating her young son and send his remains in space, but still, she stayed with her son's remains until they've found the surviving head of Bacchushund. The Emperor knew he wouldn't last long, and he decided to bring back his son to life, even making him grow up and be more powerful, by giving him his last bit of energy, while Hysteria called on Earth her niece, Princess Multiwa. While Bacchushund was dead and Hysteria weakened by using so much power (from her golden shine, she turned into a white shade), they were able, trough their love, to bring back the Baranoia family on top, by disposing of Bomber the Great. Buldont and Multiwa then married and were ready to invade Earth and managed to have significant victories, even having their palace on Earth. However, the Ohranger, who had to leave Earth after a tough battle , came back to save Earth from the Machine empire, and Buldont and Multiwa fought together against them. At that time, the two young robots already had a baby kid, who was looked after by Hysteria. The evil couple would do everything to defeat the Ohranger, even taking a baby hostage, which appalled Hysteria, who could have empathy for the mother of the baby, since she herself had a baby she cared for, and knew about losing family. However Buldont and Multiwa were defeated by the Ohrangers, and in a last act of love,  Hysteria begged the Ohrangers to spare her baby granddaughter, eventually blowing herself up. The Baranoia are a good example of an evil clan, that, despite that, had a very strong family bond.

In Gingaman, Bucrates and his niece Illies had a very strong bond, and Bucrates would always help his niece in her plots to become the new general, notably by plttong against Budoh. When Illies was killed by Zeihab because the pirate captain discovered her involvement in Budoh's death, Bucrates was furious and, after surviving being thrown into the sea by the Balban, decided to take revenge against Zeihab, and used Hyuuga in his fight. He eventually was killed by Shelinda for his betrayal, but not before giving key info to Hyuuga about Zeihab. While he had been a loyal helper during centuries fro Zihab, the fact he had no hesitation to betray him because of his niece's death showed his deep family bond with Illies.

In part 1, I've developed the complex relationships in the Saima clan, who was a big family, but also a dysfunctional one.

In Go-onger, Yogoshimacritein (the final bass) was Yogostein's boss, but he obviously didn't care about his son, even after his death.

In Gokaiger, Warz Gil was the son of the Zangyac emperor, and it's obvious Akudos Gil wanted his son to get some glory by letting him be the one to invade Earth, and appointing Damaras to protect and help his son. Unfortunately, Warz Gil was killed in battle because of his incompetence and stupidity, and when Akudos learnt about that, he decided to come in Earth to deal himself with the invasion and avenge his deceased son. While he at first imprisoned Damaras for failing to protect his son, he soon realized the value of Damaras in battle and let him fight the Gokaiger. Akudos Gil however, was evenutally defeated in battle by the Gokaiger, which brought chaos into the Zangyac empire and weakened it. While Akudos was a cruel conqueror, he still cared for his son, despite Warz's stupidity. 

In some shows with mad scientists, ther creations may see their creator as their father, like with Nefel towards Keflen in Flashman and Shibolena with Hinelar in Megaranger (even made more complex in the latter case as Hinelar used his late daughter's appearance to make Shibolena)

2) Villains having family fighting against them : a difficult situation

A very classic drama in Super Sentai is when villains have relative who don't want to be associated with their evil actions, and even, fight against them.

A first example is of course in Bioman, when Dr Man meets his son Shuichi, who was looking for his father at that time. Dr Man wanted to have a heir for his empire, as shown when he built the robot Prince using his son's likeness. However, Shuichi didn't want to be involved in his father's evil plans, and instead, became the Bioman's friend, and worked with the Bioman, Gou Shiro/ Red One's father  to thwart Dr Man's evil plans. At the end, when Dr Man was already defeated, but was about to blow up Earth with his last forces, Shuichi did everything he could to make his dying father stop the bomb, and eventually managed to help the Bioman save Earth. While Dr Man was furious against his son's refual to follow him, he didn't lose all of his humanity, despite doing everything to do so.

In Changeman, Gator had a family who missed him a lot when he was fighting for the Gozma. At first , his wife Zori tried to help Gator defeat the Changeman to have Bazoo let Gator come home, but, soon after, she realized that the real way to stop to war and get her family back was to make Gator leave Gozma, especially by making him find out about his son Warajii's pain. Eventually, when Zori had her second child, Gator defected from Gozma and helped the Changeman defeat Bazoo and at the end, was able to live with his family in peace.

In Maskman, a key conflict was the one between the two Igam sisters, Igam who wanted to invade the surface world and defeat the Maskman to restore the Igam clan, and Iyal, who wanted peace between the surface people and the Underground people after falling in love with Takeru, who would later become Red Mask. While Iyal was frozen during most of the show, Igam was deeply hurt by her sister's betrayal. However, Igam would find out that she was deceived by Zeba who was in fact the child of the monster who was the worst enemy of her clan. At that time, Igam was completely lost, and she was so ashamed of herself that she wasn't able to hate her sister anymore, abd eventually helped her defeat Zeba. However, Igam wasn't able to live with her sister anymore and became a nun, leaving Iyal being the sovereign of the Underground world.

Other series had family play a key choice in some villains's choices.
In Liveman, Gou Omura/Dr Obler wanted to join Volt because he wanted to be the best, because his mother raised him telling him he was special, because he was a genius. After joining Volt, he lost his kind heart and turned himself into a monster. However, when Gou's mother realized what had happened with Gou and how she was partly responsible of that, she understood how misguided she had been in raising her son that way, without allowing him to play like other kids, and Gou, who at that time, was in a desperate situation, choose to save his mother when Volt attacked her, proving how his bond with his mother was more important than  conquering the world, and it's that choice that allowed him to go the path of redemption and be the lone survivor of Volt.
Likewise, in Turboranger, Sayoko Tsukikage/Kirika became the enemy of the Turboranger because she discovered her true identity as a half Boma, and felt she had to join Yamimaru's fight against Boma and humans. However, when she met her father, who was a Boma who had fallen in love with a human woman, and who longed for peace, she doubt the path she had chosen, and was able to her true heart, who didn't want to fight, and eventually, made peace with the Turboranger, notably Riki who was her friend a little before she became Kirika.
Another case is Zyuranger's Bandora, who became evil because her son Kai was killed by dinosaurs. The final arc involved her son being brought to life thanks to Dai Satan, and while she was happy to see her son again, and fought the Zyuranger in a cruel way with Dai Satan, her gang and her son, when her son was killed again by the Zyurangers, she was so struck with grief that she cried tears, and as such, lost her witch powers, which made Dazyujin able to seal her again.

Dairanger has one of the most dysfunctional families ever. Indeed, Shadam, a Gorma general, married a Dai woman and had twins with them, named Kou and Akomaru. However Gorma tradition demanded that when twins were born, one would be killed. The mother of the kids couldn't stand losing one of her kids, so she escaped with her young child, Kou leaving her other child with Shadam. While she did all she could to protect Kou, notably by doing everything to prevent him to become a Gorma, she later disappeared and was captured by Akomaru. Kou grew up alone afterwards, until meeting  Houhouranger Lin. Kou was a mischievous kid, and when he became Kibaranger, tried to enjoy the most he could his new status. However, he still missed his family a lot, hoping most of all to see his mother. Akomaru, who had captured his mother, used him cruelly to make him turn into a Gorma by increasing the hate in his heart. He even brought Kou's mother with him to show her to Kou, only to separate her from him again. Kou was furious and ended up killing Akomaru. While Akomaru knew that Shadam was his father, Shadam didn't care at all for his son, and treated him very cruelly, even if they were fighting on the same side.
Akomaru was resurrected by the Gorma emperor and once again, used the fact he held Kou's mom hostage to torment to young boy and make him become a Gorma. However, soon afterwards, Shadam discovered the identity of Kou's mother, and when Akomaru realized his dad knew Kou's mom, he was confused. At that time,  Kou's mom also realized that Akomaru was his son and, that her tormenter was none other than the son she abandoned. When Akomaru tried to make Kou become a Gouma, her mom told her about their parentage and how she was his mom and Kou was his brother. Akomaru was in such a shock that we wasn't able to do anything, and then, Shadam confirmed that Kou was indeed his brother, and, cruelly, killed him. At the same time, Kou's mom completed the ritual to prevent Kou from turning into a Gouma in a cave, but, soon afterwards, she ended up buried into the cave and died with her son Akomaru who at last reconciled with her mom in death. Poor Kou had lost both his mom and his brother, and the Dairanger decided that he would not know that Shadam was his dad. In the final fight, when Shadam tried to tell Kou of his family link to him, the Dairanger, who despised his cruelty, didn't let him tell Kou.
Shadam was probably one of the worst father ever in sentai, tormenting and even killing his own son out of pure sadism. Contrarywise, Kou's mother was a devoted mom who did everything to protect his family. While Akomaru was evil, he ended up mostly being a victim of his father's cruelty and the fact that he was abandoned by his mom. Kou managed to survive, mostly because he has the support of Byakko and the Dairangers.

Kakuranger is a special case. While Hakumenroh was seemingly working for the Yokai, and as a result, fought in duel the Kakuranger, especially his daughter Tsuruhime/Ninjawhite, he was in fact just pretending to be evil, because he only managed to save his daughter's adoptive brothers Taro and Jiro by agreeing to work for the Yokai. However, his real intent was to fight the Yokai, and while he still fought the Kakuranger, he was trying to protect them in secret, and even sometimes, sent them key info to defeat the Yokai. Unfortunately, Daimaoh learned about his treachery, and turned him into stone. In a very cruel twist, he decided to use the stone Hakumenroh to attack people to force Tsuruhime to kill her own father, in order to protect the wold from her manipulated dad. Fortunately, Sasuke/ NinjaRed managed to stop her and eventually, Taro and Jiro sacrificed themselves to save Hakumenroh and eventually, father and daughter were able to be back together.

Carranger, as a parody, had Zonnette, the main villainess, not only fall in love with Red Racer, the main hero, but also had a sister, Radieta Fanbelt, who was a fangirl of the Carranger. Despite being on opposite sides, Radieta was still close of her sister Zonnette, whose real identity was Vanity Fanbelt, and of course, when the Zonnette definitely turned good after seeing Kyousuke/Red Racer 's worth, the two sisters stayed close.

Abaranger was also a very complex case. During most of his life, Asuka fought the Evolian with two people very close to him : his friend Mizuho and Mizuho's sister Mahoro. Eventually, Asuka and Mahoro fell in love with each other and got married. Unfortunately, soon afterwards, Mizuho and Mahoro were captured by the Evolian and theur leader, the Evil God Dezumozorya and brainwashed into thinking that they have been abandoned by Asuka, even showing to Mahoro Asuka with another woman. Dezumozorya then forced Mahoro to take some of his essence in her body, and soon a little baby was born, who would become one of the evil god's hosts. Fuled with feelings of revenge, Mizuho and Mahoro joined the Evolian, Mizuho, as Messenger of Darkness Gairudon, and Mahoro as Messenger of Destruction Jeanne, and decided to take revenge on Asuka. Gairudon managed to take back the evil armor for himself, brainwashed Tyranno, Tricera and Ptera and attacked Earth. However, with Asuka's help, the Abaranger managed to defeat him in their first battle, eventually stopping the invasion. Gairudon was then killed by his own sister, Jeanne, who took the power of the armor for herself. At the same time, his daughter became the Messenger of Dawn Lije, and was the one through whom Dezumozorya would give his orders. Jeanne would often fight Asuka in very bitter battles, using the evil armor when she could.  Asuka suffered a lot during their fights, because he had to deal with an enemy who looked like his beloved wife whom he never had forgotten. The relationship between Jeanne and Lije was complex; while Lije was very cheerful with Jeanne, and behaved nicely with her, Jeanne didn't really care for the young girl, even if she was her daughter.
However, very soon, a mysterious girl looking like Lije appeared in front of Asuka and Jeanne and often came to make them stop fighting, especially when either Asuka or Jeanne were about to kill each other, and tried to make them remember their past. A few months later, Asuka and Jeanne had a decisive battle against each other, but, after the mysterious girl  making them both remember their past, Asuka realized that Jeanne was none other than Mahoro and Jeanne realized that her rage was linked to the fact she felt abandoned by Asuka. At the end, Asuka, instead of wanting to kill Jeanne, wanted to save Mahoro from herself and the power of the evil armor, and defeated her,  and took for himself the power of the armor. Jeanne survived, but had become back Mahoro and lost her memory. She soon became the friend of the Abarangers, but after seeing Asuka wearing the evil armor, she remembered her past, and after meeting the mysterious girl again,  tried to save her husband from the power of the armor, even pretending to be Jeanne again to manipulate Abarekiller into defeating Asuka with her, and destroy the evil armor by having two people defeating the weilder fo the armor. At that time, Mahoro knew that Asuka had never betrayed her, and her love for him was stronger than ever. However, by becoming Mahoro and having her heart free from the darkness, she also realized that she cared a lot for Lije, who had grown herself into a young woman named Lijewel, and who was in love with Abarekiller. Mahoro realized that the resurrection of Dezumozorya was putting her daughter in danger, and tried everything to save her. Unfortunately since she met Abarekiller, Lije was nastier than before, already ready to punish Jeanne when she didn't want to obey Abarekiller, and, when she came back, was jealous of her, because she saw her as a rival towards Abarekiller. However, Lijewel  ended up realizing that Dezumozorya's return would make his beloved Mikoto in danger, and ended up helping him, but soon, she was possessed by the evil God. Mahoro did everything she could to save her daughter, even risking her life, but she eventually managed to free her daughter from the evil god, with Lijewel/ Lije thanking her calling her "mother" and turning her into an innocent baby, thanks to the Abarangers and the mysterious girl. However, Mahoro was still the captive of the evil god, and during the final arc, Asuka did everything to save her, and it was at that time that Mahoro and Asuka learnt the truth: Lije was in fact their daughter, (the mysterious girl was in fact trying to help her parents) and it gave them the strength to survive and at the end, that family, which had so many twists in their lives, was able to be reunited at last, and go back to their native Dino Earth with their daughter.
Abaranger had some of the most complicated, but also one of the most touching sagas involving heroes and villains belonging to a same family (the images above show  Jeanne and Lije together (left), and Jeanne and Asuka fighting each other (right).

Lastly, in Kyoryuger, Chaos and Torin are in fact brothers, both born from Deboth. However, when Torin, touched by Earth and the dinosaur's beauty, didn't want anymore to be a entity of destruction, he became a traitor to the Deboth, and especially Chaos. During a fight, Torin cut one of Chaos's wings, and it even deepened the hate between the two brothers. Kyoryuger is basically a harsh fight between two brothers, Chaos trying to destroy Earth and Torin protecting it, and Chaos never hesitated to torture Torin as much as he could, brainwashing him into fighting the Kyoryuger, or cruelly teasing him for his failures.

Super Sentai and family part 2 : dealing with family and saving the world : an epic challenge for a hero.

In part 1, I've talked about teams having among them siblings; in that post, I'l talk about te situation when heroes or commanders have to deal with their family in a daily basis, while also being involved in the fight against evil. I'll also mention situations where the heroes are searching for their identity, notably, by finding out their origins, and as such, their family

1)  Heroes and allies and their family

a) Commanders and their family

In Sun Vulcan, Commander Daizaburou  Arashiyama was the one who was the Sun Vulcan's boss, and their main officer. He was very active in the fight against Black Magma, often involving himself in the investigations, and he was the one at the end to give the final blow to the evil army. Arashiyama had a daughter, Misa, who was also helping the heroes in her own way. She was very close to her father, and deeply loved him. Of course, that love was reciprocal, as many episodes showed the obvious complicity between father and daughter.  As such, attacking her was the most efficient way for Black Magma to hurt the Commander, and several episodes (notably episode 8 and the final arc) showed that Daizaburou would do everything to save his dear Misa. Of course the Sun Vulcan would gladly help him, since Misa was very important for them too.
Other example of commanders having family life include :
-  Hurricanger's Hinatas : Mugensai the father, leade rof the Hayate school and his daughter Oboro, the technology genius of the team who was dealing with the heroes's weapons and mechas. The fact that in most of the show, Mugensai was a hamster didn't make things easier. Oboro and Mugensai were often in conflict with each other, because Mugensai could be annoying with his pompous behaviour, and because Oboro felt his dad was hiding her stuff (his link with Gozen sama), but of course father and daughter deeply loved each other, as episode 12 showed very well.
-  Gekiranger's  Miki who has to deal with her teenage daughter Natsume as well as being an important staff member in SCRTC, the Gekiranger's headquarters. Mother and daughter would often argue, as both were hot blooded and stubborn. Once classic example is episode 39, when mother and daughter argued about a sweet treat. 

b) Rangers and their family 
Because rangers were the ones doing the most of the fighting, it's even harder for them to deal with a family life during the fight

The best example is of course Ryouga Hakua/ Abared, who not only had to fight as the leader of the Abarangers, but also had to raise and look after his niece and adoptive daughter Mai Hakua, a 5 year old girl. It was a very difficult task, because Ryouga wasn't ready to become a father, but had to be one after his brother's death, since Mai had only him. Being an Abaranger and be a good dad for Mai was somewhat very difficult, as seen in episode 3, when he couldn't stay with his daughter for Father's day in the child center where Mai was, because he had to fight and how Mai was suffering from it, or when she was victim of the influence of the evil song which made her rampage in the restaurant in episode 23. In all those times, Ryouga was suffering a lot, because he felt he wasn't a good father.  But despite those difficulties, he always did his best to raise Mai, by telling her how to be a good girl, but also having good times with her, like fishing, watching TV shows, playing together and  as such, making her feel happy. Ryouga and Mai had a very close relationship, and Mai would always cheer her dad when he was fighting. Ryouga of course could count on his friends to help him when necessary (for example, when Emiri brought her to the child center), and the advice of his partner Tyranno, who was a father but lost his wife and child.

In Kyoryuger, Nobuharu "Nossan"/ Kyoryublue had also a family to look after, his sister Yuko and her daughter Rika, and he had to leave his job to take over his deceased brother in law's job to help his family, and of course, protecting them as Kyoryublue against the Deboth. However, Yuko was able to deal with most of the family daily issues when Nossan was fighting.

Another case is Tatsuya Asami/Timered, who had a difficult relationship with his father, a very powerful CEO who wants him to follow his steps and be the next head of the Asami company. Tatsuya didn't want to have his future decided for him, so he decided to leave by himself and have his own company, Tomorrow Research, to try to escape his fate. While their relationship were strained, especially when, as a Timeranger, Tatsuya was forced to cross his father's path, like in episode 6, when he had to use his Asami name to chase a Londarz thief or when his dad founded the City Guardians to protect the city from the Londarz, especially with Naoto, a former college friend, became Timefire and used the suit and the V-Rex for the City Guardians, it's obvious the father in fact loved the son. Despite being annoyed, he understood his son's struggles, since he was like him when he was younger, and when he discovered Tatsuya was Timered, he never did anything that would make stuff difficult for him. At last, Tatsuya would make peace with his dad, and follow his path in life.

c) Minor cases
 There are a few cases where regular characters which were neither commanders not heroes, but still regulars had family. The best exaples are Yuta from Gingaman and Nozomu from Goseiger, who were the child friend of the heroes, and had to deal with their bumbling, but well intentioned dad, who, at their son's request, would also help the heroes.

2) Heroes in quest for their family and identity

Sometimes, the heroes didn't know their family and an important theme was their quest for their identity, and finding their family.
The best example is of course Flashman, when the heroes were in fact young people who had been kidnapped when they were very young children, by Aliens hunters for the evil empire Mess,  but then, saved and raised by aliens in the Flash planets. When Mess decided to target their native planet, Earth, the Flashman came back to Earth to fight the evil empire. However at the same time, they hoped to find their real family, and as such know who they are. A few weeks after coming back to Earth, the Flashman met a family, the Tokimura, who had lost a child 20 years ago, when they were themselves kidnapped, and of course, the heroes felt that one of them could be their child, and they were all thrilled at the idea that one of them would indeed discover his family, if he or she was the lost child of the Tokimura. The Tokimura family were good friends with the Flashman, who saw them in a way as their family for all of them. , At the end, it has been revealed for both Flashman and the Tokimura family that Sara/Yellow Flash was indeed the Tokimura daughter. However, at that time, it was too late , since the Flashman were forced to leave Earth because of the Anti Flash effect, and Sara wouldn't be able to meet her family after knowing her true name, only having to say goodbye from her ship.

Other examples are Bioman's Red One, who had his father missing, and then, finding him as a fellow scientist who was trying to stop Doctor Man. Moreover, in Boukenger,  both Natsuki/Boukenyellow and Eiji/Boukensilver had an important arc about finding out about their origins and family (Natsuki, as a former Lemurian princess, Eiji as the son of an Ashu hunter and an Ashu) and dealing with them. In Gekiranger, Jan had an arc about finding out about his family, because, as a child, he couldn't remember anything, because he lost his family very young and was raised by animals. He ended up finding that his dad was Dan, a very famous Gekijyuken fighter, who was defeated long ago after a fight with the leader of the Rinjyuken, Rio (even if the one who really killed him was Long), and his Gekisoul put into a mindless Chimera monster, Suugu by the evil dragon Long, who also, killed his mother. Jan was however able to save his father from his cruel fate and free his soul from the beast.
In Go-Busters, Hiromu/Red Buster had his parents and Yoko/Yellow Buster had her mom trapped in the hyperspace 13 years after Messiah went berserk. Because they had to contain Messiah, they had to create that hyperspace and send their children out of the Energy Management Center (EMC) where they would be trapped with Messiah. The Go-Busters hoped to save their parents which were trapped in the hyperspace while fighting the Vaglass, even if Hiromu's sister, a child book author was very reluctant to see her younger brother fight and risk his life. Unfortunately, when the Go-Busters managed to go to the hyperspace, they realized that their parents were trapped within Messiah, forced to work for him with no hope to get back to normal. As a resukt, Hiromu was forced, at their request, to shut down Messiah, even if it meant finishing them off. Hiromu finally followed his parents's request and shut down Messiah, mercy killing his parents, Yoko's mother and the other workers at the EMC at the same time, and was left heartbroken after that ordeal.  


After part 2, part 3 is gonna be about villains and their family, with also a focus when villains and their families would be in opposite sides.

Super Sentai and family : Part 1 : ranger siblings

Super Sentai is a kid show; and family is very important in a child's life. As such, many Super Sentai series have put a lot of focus on the theme of family. Often, standalones episodes would have children or a child and his parents as guest stars. Other times, one of the heroes, an ally or even a villain would have one or two episodes focused on his relationship with a father, a mother, a sister or a brother.
But there are also shows where main characters are in the same family, and as such, the relationship between the different family members can be an important theme of the series.

1) My siblings are my teammates : the 3 sibling sentai and other teams with sibling teammates

Three sentai series had all core members being siblings : Fiveman, GogoV, and Magiranger. 

1-1) Fiveman 
Fiveman was the first sentai series where the five teammates were brothers and sisters : the Hoshikawa family. Their childhood had a tragic start : they lost their parents when very young in a remote planet they were trying to revive when the evil faction (Zone) responsible for the destruction of that planet attacked them. During the attack, in order to save them, their parents sent them back to Earth with their robot nurse, Arthur G6. As such, they were pretty much raised by the robot, with of course, older siblings helping younger ones.
Not only the heroes were siblings, they also all became teachers (Gaku/Red taught science, Ken was a physical education teacher, Fumiya was a Japanese teacher, Kasumi a math teacher and Remi a music teacher). However, they knew that one day, Zone would attack Earth, and to protect Earth from Zone and avenge the loss of their parents, they prepared in secret and became the Earth Task Force Fiveman.
While he five siblings showed the typical teasing seen in siblings, but also the complicity between them, notably the twins Remi and Fumiya, the main recurring theme was the hope that their parents were still alive, especially after meeting Gunther, who met the Fiveman's parents (and also stole their robot). At the end of the show, at last, the Fiveman were able to communicate again with them, during the final battle, and the show ends with the Fiveman leaving Earth to search and meet at last with their long lost parents.

1-2)  GogoV
9 years after Fiveman, a new sibling sentai team appeared: the Gogofive. Once again, the five rangers were siblings (the Tatsumi family), and all of them worked in the rescue field:  the three eldest were involved in firefighers Matoi/ Red  was involved in a rescue team,  Nagare/ Blue  was working in the chemistry and technology department, Shou/Green  was involved in the aerial department. The fourth son, Daimon/ Yellow was a cop, and the only daughter, Matsuri/ Pink was a paramedic.
Like the Fiveman, the GogoV were pretty much abandoned by their parents during their childhood, with their mother having disappeared and their father having left 10 years before the beginning of the show. However, while Fiveman started with the siblings separated from their parents, GogoV starts with the heroes meeting again their dad. Indeed, their dad had left because he forsaw the arrival of the Saima and the need to fight them, and he had to prepare everything to confront that threat, hence him leaving to make all the technology needed to fight the Saima and creating the GogoV team. Through the series, the GogoV's dad would be their mentor, and would do build new technology and weapons to help them in their fight. However, leaving your kids 10 years isn't the kind of stuff that you kids would be happy about, and GogoV deal a lot with the confiicts and harships that Mondo (the dad) would face to reconnect again with his kids (Shou especially, resented a lot his dad), but also all the good stuff, the little things in life that build a strong relationship between a dad an his children. Mondo cared a lot about his kids, and more than once, showed how hard it was to him to see his children risk their lives in a fight that he himself involved his kids in. He never hesitated risking his own life if necessary to help his children (episode 18 and 25 are good examples).
GogoV also focused a lot on the relationship between the siblings themselves, notably with flashbacks from the past and the importance of the responsibility of the eldest towards the youngest (episode 4 is an example), or dealing with having to work together again in a same team, while they chose very different jobs before, and, of course, all the usual and fun adventures involving siblign relationship, the little fights, the arguments, but of course also the good times and the love they had to each other. During their time as the GogoV, they showed that they had a very strong connection between each other and fought in prefect unity, and of course, their bond included their father, and, at the end, the bond between the different family members was stronger than ever. The final arc even included better news for the family: their long lost mother was alive, and was in fact in a coma, but at last came woke up, and joined them at last, with the series ending with father, mother and children living the best family life one can imagine.
Interestingly, the family theme wasn't just used for the heroes. The villains too (the Saima) were siblings, a family of demons. Like the GogoV, the Saima were also abandoned by their parents, and they wanted to being back their mother Grandienne to them. While the Saima were evil, it was obvious they still had a strong bond between them, notably the three elders ones, Zylpheeza, Kobolda and Dinas. A fourth sibling, Drop was a kid at the beginning. The Saima prepared the arrival of their mom on Earth during the Great Cross. During those battles, Zylpheeza ended up dying, but despite that, Grandienne managed to reach Earth, but, because of the GogoV's actions, in a weakened state. At the same time, Drop grew up and become the Dragon demon Salamendes. Unlike his siblings, Salamendes didn't care at all for his family, only wanting to be the best in his mother's eyes, not even hesitating to sabotage his siblings's plans, like with the Thanatos Saima case. He even killed again his revived brother Zylpheeza during the final fight.  Kobolda and Dinas were of course angry against him and couldn't stand that spirit, especially since they were doing everything they could to bring back their brother Zylpheeza to life, with eventually Dinas sacrificing her life to bring back her brother. Unfortunately for the Saima children, it became obvious that Grandienne didn't care at all for her kids, only seeing them as tools to her aims, which were destroying the world and defeating the GogoV. Grandienne stranded her son Salamendes to the Saima hell, and even forced Zylpheeza to kill his brother Kobolda, and then, killed him as a weapon to destroy the GogoV. However, horrified by his heartless mother, Zylpheeza in his last breath gave some help to the heroes to destroy his evil mom. But Grandienne's power still existed, and she managed to stay alive, using at last his children Salamendes and a revived Zylpheeza as her puppets in a final battle.
Of all sentai series, GogoV certainly was the one using the most the family theme, and showed a great contrast of family spirit, not only between the heroes's family and the villains's family, but, in a more complex twist, the contrast within the villain group.

1-3) Magiranger
Magiranger was the last team so far with the main rangers being siblings ( the Ozu family shown in the photo above). Like the other sibling teams, the theme of parental abandonment is used, but in a very different way. At the beginning, the heroes are raised by their mother, their father having disappeared years before. Unlike their predecessors, the Magiranger were taken care of by one of their parents during their whole childhood. It's only when the Infershia began to attack that the siblings discovered their mother's secret : she was using magic, and was involved in fighting demonic creatures. It's at that time  that their mother showed them their destiny, and made her children become the Magirangers, to protect Earth. Unfortunately, soon after, their mom would be seemingly killed by an evil wizard, Wolzard. Despite suffering a lot from that loss, and even despite some reluctance, the five siblings would become the Magiranger to fight the Infershia. It's during that time that they discovered the secret about their father: their father was Bragel,  a hero among Heavenly Saints and disappeared duringan intense fight against the Infershia. The Magiranger would find a new mentor, the Heavenly Saint Sungel, aka Hikaru, who would become their teacher and their guide, and also told them a lot about their father. Eventually, the heroes realized that their father was none other than Wolzard himself. Indeed, during the fight, Bragel was brainwashed into becoming the evil Wolzard, working for the Infershia God N'Ma, while still retaining his honorable way to fight. Eventually, Bragel managed to break his brainwashing curse, and stopped fighting for the Infershia. However, he was forced again to leave his children, without even having time to reconnect with them to contain the evil god that about to reawaken. He had just the time to tell his children that their mother was still alive. The final arc of the show showed the heroes searching for their mother and their father, finally finding them at last, and even fighting side by side with them. Indeed, at the end, all rangers were family, the five siblings Kai/Red, Tsubasa/Yellow, Urara/Blue, Houka/ Pink and Makito/Green, with their parents, the mother Miyuki/ Magimother (white) and the father Isamu/ Wolzard Fire, and Hikaru/ Magishine  joined the familyby marrying Urara. At the end, the whole family lives happy together.
Magiranger used heavily a fantasy theme, and the show treats the family in a typical fairy tale way. However, like in the previous series, the show also put emphasis on the funs and trouble that sibling relationships are, with the little fights between Kai and Tsubasa being nice examples.

1-4) Teams having two rangers being siblings

Other teams had siblings as teammates, but it was one ranger having another ranger as a brother or sister. For example, in Goseiger, the two Landick Goseiger, Agri/ Goseiblack and Moune/ Goseiyellow were siblings and had typical sibling issues. In other series, the sibling wasn't a core member of the team but came later.

A very famous example is of course Burai/Dragonranger and Geki/Tyrannoranger, the separated brothers from Zyuranger. Their relationship was made even more difficult because they've been put at odds with each other, because of their background. Burai wanted to take revenge on Geki, because Geki's adoptive father killed Burai's dad (who was also Geki's true father). Obsessed with revenge, Burai wanted nothing else but kill Geki, confronting him often, until Geki, after a powerful fight, let Burai strike him wihotu resisting. However, Burai wasn't able to do it, and at last, reconciled with his brother, and joined him in his fight against Bandora, helping him as much as he could. However, Burai had also a awful secret : he only had very little time of life left, and could only survive in a special cave where time stopped. As a result, he could only join his brother during fights, but couldn't stay to more reconnect with him. However, the siblings were still able to bond during some fights involving Burai staying longer than usual outside his cave, and during those times, the bond between siblings was shown to be strong. However, despite all his efforts and the help of his teammates, Geki wasn't able to make Burai escape his fate, and Burai died in his brother's arms. Geki was struck with grief and continued the fight, being his successor as Dragon Ceasar's partner.

Another example are Ryouma and Hyuuga from Gingaman. They were both brothers in the Fire tribe in the Ginga Forest. Hyuuga, as the older brother, was also teaching him how to fight, and it made their bond very strong. While Hyuuga was supposed to be the next Gingared, he was seemingly killed during the first fight against the Balban, and Ryouma had to replace him as Gingared. Because of the loss of his brother, Ryouma was more determined than ever to defeat the Balban who took his beloved brother. A few months later, Ryouma met a warrior, Kurokishi, who was fighting the Balban as well, but in a more ruthless way than the Gingaman. While Kurokishi was actually an alien from a remote planet that was destroyed by the Balban, and who lost his little brother at that time, Ryouma felt the presence of his brother. And indeed, Kurokishi had in fact taken the body of Hyuuga to go back to life, and, eventually, after a final fight, freed Hyuuga from his influence and sacrificed himself to save Earth. However, he was able to give his powers to Hyuuga who became the new Kurokishi. Ryouma and Hyuuga were at last able to fight side by side as fellow rangers, and their bond was stronger than ever. However, Hyuuga had to leave his brother and teammates again, when he was blackmailed by Bucrates to fight for him. While he was still able to help in the fight against the Balban (Bucrates wanted to take revenge against Zeihab, the Balban leader), they couldn't be together again, until the final fight, and the final defeat of the Balban, where all Gingaman and Kurikishi worked together to defeat Zeihab (Bucrates was killed a little before by Shelinda, Zeihab's lieutenant). At the end, not only Hyuuga and Ryouma were together gain, but they were able to come back to their forest home.

In Hurricanger, the two Gouraigers, Ikkou/ Kabuto Raiger and Isshu/ Kuwaga Raiger,  are siblings as well ; as the lone survivors of their ninja school, the Ikazuchi. At first, both borthers were working together to be the strongest ninjas ever, and for that aim, they were seeking for "that", the strong power that would make them the best ever. As such, they didn't care in helping others, and even allied themselves with the Jakanja, in order to find "that". Because of that, they were in conflict with the Hurricanger, and they often fought against them, even inflicting them very cruel defeats. Another reason why they were fighting the Hurricanger was because they had to defeat ninjas to find "that". But the real reasons behind their actions was the fact that they were following their father's path. Ikkou soon found out that it wasn't the Hurricanger he had to fight, but his own brother. As such, he started to fight his own brother, but his real intent was to have his brother kill him, because he couldn't do so. However, when Isshu realized it as well, he understood how twisted their father was, and how his obsession with "that" has made him a cruel and despicable man. Realizing how foolish they were, and after realizing that the Jakanja was doublecrossing them, they soon switched sides, and decided to fight for justice. However they still felt ashamed of themselves, and didn't want to become the Hurricanger's friends at first, rather helping them from the shadow. Soon afterwards, Ikkou got poisoned by Manmaruba, who put a scorpion egg in his body, which would eventually kill him. Ikkou at first tried to hide that from his brother, but Isshu was well aware something wasn't right anf that his old brother was hiding something. When at last he realized it, he didn't want to accept that his brother would die, while Ikkou was pretty much accepting his fate. At that time, the relationship between the brothers were strained, but once Yousuke saved Ikkou from death, at last, the Gouraigers were at last at peace with themselves and the Hurricangers, and all heroes fought together as a team. A last big crisis happened when Isshu, still marked by his father's influence and wanting to keep the Ikazuchi school going on, found out a magical sword belonging to their father. His choice to use that sword put him in conflict with his teammates, including his brothers, and he ended up hurting them with it.   Fortunately, he overcame that last crisis, and the reconciliation between the brothers and all heroes was complete.

In Gekiranger, Retsu/Gekiblue met a strange wolfman, and soon after, realized that it was his long lost brother Gou who in fact, became a wolfman because he used a forbidden spell. Gou was astonished to discover his brother became a Gekiranger, because he saw him as a weakling more interested in arts than in fights, while he saw himself as the strong one, who was the one to fight in the Gekijyuken. However, Gou realized that while he was stuck as a wolfman, Retsu had grown up and became stronger, and he finally recognized his young brother's strength. While he initially saw himself as a lone wolf, not interested in justice, he realized that his desire to help people in danger was indeed an heroic quality, and ended up joining the Gekiranger as Gekiviolet with his own fighting style. An episode involving his brother being trapped in a mirror world and replaced by an evil copy showed the bond between siblings, but while Blue and Violet were trusted teammates, their relationship didn't get much more focus.

At last, Go-onger had the Go-on Wings, Hiroto/Go-on Gold and Miu/ Go-on Silver who were siblings, and were very close to each other. Miu had a great admiration for his brother Hiroto, and it was hard for her to be comfortable without him, until episode 38,  when she had to save her brother and her male teammates with Saki/ Go-on Yellow. While both were arrogant with the other Go-onger at first, Miu quickly showed her soft side, while Hiroto took more time to display it.

Update : In Kyoryuger, family members ended up being Kyoryuger as well. First, Dr Ulshade/ first Kyoryuviolet, soon after appearing in the show, and bringing back Plesion with him on Earth, hurt his back and had to stop fighting. However, he knew his grandaughter Yayoi, who was his assistant, had potential to replace him as Kyoryuviolet. Indeed, when Plesion was threatened by a resurrected DeboVirusun and an incomplete Deboth, Yayoi summoned all her bravery and, plunging towards the Zyudenryu, managed to wake it up, and allowed the Kyoryuger to defeat Incomplete Deboth thanks to Bakuretsu Kyoryujin. However, she was still unusre of herself and at first as unable to transform into Kyoryuviolet, and it's only after realizing how much she wanted to be Kyoryuviolet, not just to mmake her granfather proud, but also for herself, she managed to transform at last, and fight with the other heroes. Since then, Yayoi helped the Kyoryuger, both as a technological assistant, but also as Kyoryuviolet. In the final arc, her grandfather came back as Kyoryuviolet, and they both team up to defeat a gigantic Killborero with Plesioh.
Tessai/Kyoryugrey also had the opportunity to meet a descendant, who ended up being a mangaka. While at first, Tessai was disappointed, he soon relaizzed his descendant's worth when he protected a young woman from the Deboth, and decided to make him his successor as Kyoryugrey. 
Nobuharu/Kyoryublue also ended up having a family member as a Kyoryuger. Indeed, while his sister Yuko didn't know at first that her brother was Kyoryublue, she ended up realizing it during the Debovacance incident, and at the same time, realized her brother's bravery. She decided not to tell him she knew about his Kyoryuger identity, but her fighting skills managed to impress Ramirez/Kyoryucyan, who decided to make her his successor as Kyoryucyan. Nossan was completely shocked to see that not only her sister knew about his Kyoryublue identity, but that she became a Kyoryuger as well.
in the Kyoryuger 100 years after, the original Kyoryuger's descendants are gonna become the new Kyoryugers.
At first, I was planning to do a whole post about sentai and family, but, given how developed the theme is, I'm gonna make several posts about that theme.
Stay tuned for the next part.

Numbers : the often forgotten gimmick in Super Sentai; members ranking in teams and order of appearance in team roll call

Hi Guys; it's been a while since my last post, but I lacked ideas. However, with the new sentai series info coming today, it inspired me to do a post about sentai and numbers.

With Tokkyuger choosing naming his heroes using numbers (Tokkyuichigo, nigo, sango... ) instead of using colors (probably because of the color change stuff), it's important to remind that numbers has been used very often in Super Sentai to identfy the heroes. As an example,  the image above show the Dekarangers, and the team members are not only identified by their color, but also by their numbers, shown in the uniforms. The numbers associated with each ranger is often linked to their hierarchical rank among the team.
In a similar vein, it's also interesting to make a little analysis of the sentai team roll call, which also display the team members in order of their rank among the team (with a few exceptions), and in almost all cases when the number theme  is important in the sentai series of the year, the roll call shows the rangers in the same order as their respective numbers.
A few rules among the order of each ranger in the roll call  :
- Red always first, even in the few cases he's not the leader)
- Core rangers always before additional rangers
- The second one is usually the second in command, or the non Red leader
- Men before women (yes, it's sexist, but I'm not the one deciding the rules)
- Older rangers before younger rangers
(except the two first rules,  there are exceptions)
 

I'm going to review each sentai series, starting with Gorenger, to analyse the importance of the number theme, and showing the order of appearance in the roll call :

Gorenger
Numbers are almost as important as colors in Gorenger : each ranger is not only identified by his (her) color, but alos by their numbers, shown in their helmets, the number of red stripes (yellow for Akaranger) in their suit, and their numbers in the team motor bikes.
As seen there,
Akaranger (Red) = 1
Aoranger (Blue) = 2
Kiranger (Yellow) = 3
Momoranger (Pink) = 4
Midoranger (Green) = 5
Interestingly, in the roll call, the order is Red-Blue-Yellow-Green-Pink , with Green and Pink switching ranks ; while Pink is higher in hierarchy, I guess they wanted the lone woman to be last in the roll call

JAKQ
Here, the number theme isn't explored, since the major gimmick is the trump card theme.
The order is Spade Ace (Red) - Dia Jack (Blue)- Heart Queen (Pink)- Clover King (Green). (Big One is a special case, since he's mostly Hiroshi Miyauchi stealing the show from everyone)

Battle Fever J
Here, the major gimmick is the country theme. Even the color motif isn't dominating. No role of numbers
Rank is : Japan (Red) - Cossack (Orange) - France (Blue) - Kenya (Black)- Miss America (Pink)

Denziman
The number theme, while not prominent, is subtly shown with each ranger having a different number of white stripes in their uniform, and they appear in the roll call in the same order as the number of stripes in their suits

Red= 1 
Blue = 2
Yellow = 3
Green = 4
Pink = 5

Sun Vulcan
Animal theme ; no role of numbers here.
Order in the roll call = Eagle (Red)- Shark (Blue)- Panther (Yellow)

Goggle V
No special role of numbers
Order in the roll call =  Red - Black - Blue -Yellow - Pink

Dynaman
A subtle use of number: each ranger is numbered by a Roman number on their helmet, corresponding to their rank and order in the roll call :
Red- Black -Blue - Yellow -Pink

Bioman
An obvious one, since the rangers are both named by their colors and their numbers : of course, the order of appearance in the roll call follows suit :
Red One - Green Two - Blue Three - Yellow Four - Pink Five

Changeman
Mythological beast theme. no importance of numbers.
Order in the roll call :
Dragon (Red) - Gryphon (Black) - Pegasus (Blue) - Mermaid (White) - Phoenix (Pink)

Flashman
No major role of numbers.
Order in the roll call : Red- Green - Blue - Yellow - Pink

Maskman
Since the team was supposed initially to be called  Fiveman, the number five is heavily shown in the suits, the vehicles and the big robot is named "Great Five"; however, since the name Fiveman has been discarded, the number theme has been as well.
Order in the roll call : Red - Black -Blue - Yellow - Pink

Liveman
Animal theme. No major role of numbers.
Order in the roll call  : Red - Yellow - Blue - Black  - Green (Green and Black are additional rangers for a core team of three ; Blue is the core woman)

Turboranger
The individual motorbikes of the rangers are numbered in the same rank as the rangers have
Red = 1
Black = 2
Blue = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Order in the roll call : Red - Black - Blue - Yellow - Pink

Fiveman
Here, the number theme is heavily used in that sentai series involving siblings rangers.
Their rank in the team is shown in two ways in their suits : first, by their visors, which are divided in as many parts as their rank, and in their silvery plate in the torso, which is divided in as much parts as the ranger is ranked.
Moreover, like in Turboranger, the ranger's motorbikes are numbered by each ranger's rank number.
Fiveman has 5 siblings, which are, from eldest to youngest : Red, Blue, Pink, and the twins Black and Yellow; their rank follow their age, except Black, which, as a man, comes before the women.

Order in roll call = Red - Blue - Black - Pink - Yellow

Jetman
Bird theme. No major role of numbers.
Order in roll call : Red - Black - Yellow - White  - Blue  (the girls are White and Blue)

Zyuranger  
Dinosaur theme (or rather prehistoric beast number)
No major role of numbers.
Order in the roll call : Tyranno (Red) - Mammoth (Black ) - Tricera (Blue) - Tiger (Yellow) - Ptera (Pink). Dragon Ranger (Additional Green) only appear very sporadicaly in the roll call, and comes between Tyranno and Mammoth

Dairanger
Like in Turboranger and Fiveman, the numbers corresponding to each ranger's ranking appear in their individual bikes.
Ryu (Red) = 1
Shishi (Green ) = 2
Tenma (Blue) = 3
Kirin (Yellow ) = 4
Houhou (Pink) = 5 
Mythological beasts are the main theme though
Order in roll call : Red - Green - Blue - Yellow  - Pink  (the few times Kibaranger (White) ) appear in the roll call, he comes after Pink

Kakuranger
A subtle one in this sentai: the rank of each ranger is defined by the number od sides of their respective symbol, the number of sides being their rank.
Kakuranger has White as the leader, but Red always comes first : order :
Red = 1 (symbol is a S)
White = 2 (symbol are a pair of wings (two sides))
Yellow = 3 (symbol is a triangle (three sides) )
Blue = 4 (symbol is a square (four sides))
Black = 5 (symbol is a pentagon (Five sides) )
Order in the roll call : Red - White - Yellow - Blue - Black

Ohranger
Like in Kakuranger, the rank is suggested by the number of sides in their respective symbols, or, in the case of Ohred, the fact he used a pentagram (a five-pointed star) : unlike Kakuranger, the higher the number, the higher the rank :
Red = Pentagram (number 5)
Green = Square (4 sides)
Blue = Triangle (3 sides)
Yellow = Two stripes  (2 sides)
Pink = a circle (1 side)
Order in roll call = Red - Green - Blue - Yellow - Pink (also the rank order)
(King Ranger is a special case: as a sixth ranger, he appears after the heroes; also in his case, he's defined by the number of sides in his symbol (the kanji for King) which has six sides)

Carranger
In the show, the heroes's individual karts, and their individual mechas, either for the RV Robo or the VRV Robo (the latter being able to be individual robots as well) are numbered after each ranger's rank
Red = 1
Blue = 2
Green = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Order in the roll call = Red - Blue - Green - Yellow - Pink (Signal man is a bangai hero, with his police theme)

Megaranger
Here,  numbers appearing in the Mega Voyager mechas, since the Mega Voyager is the only Megaranger robot being made from the fusing of individual mechas from each ranger. Once again, number is the same as the ranger rank :
Red = 1
Black = 2
Blue = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Order in the roll call = Red - Black - Blue - Yellow - Pink - Silver (Silver is the additional ranger)

Gingaman
Animal theme : no big role of numbers here.
Order in roll call : Red - Green - Blue - Yellow - Pink - Kurokishi (additional ranger)

GogoFive
In this new sibling sentai team, number is as important as a theme as the color and the rescue job each ranger had before (and after) being the GogoV. Their individual weapons and each one of their individual mechas (each ranger has three : one for the Victory Robo, one for the Grand Liner, one for the Victory Mars: the numbers also appear in the cockpit of the robots);  The Bay Area where the mechas are stored are also numbered after each ranger's number, with the matching color.
In that sibling team, the oldest the sibling ranger is, the higher is the rank :
Red = 1
Blue = 2
Green = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Order in roll call : Red - Blue - Green - Yellow - Pink

Timeranger
Timeranger has the big weapons of the heroes which are numbered : the rank is
Red = 1
Blue = 2
Green = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
However, unlike most shows, that color ranking is completely different of the actual ranking in the team. Indeed, the leader of the team is Timepink, even if she has the weapon n°5.
As a result, the number theme is very limited, and the actual rank of the heroes, seen in the roll call is : Red - Pink - Blue - Yellow - Green
Timefire, who is red like Timered is pretty much a lone wolf and isn't really included in the roll call

Gaoranger
A very subtle one here : each hero has a big golden part in their suit just under the right shoulder, and for each ranger, it is divided into a different number of stripes: the higher the number of stripes there is, the higher the ranger is ranked (at least for the five core rangers)

Red= 5 stripes
Yellow = 4 stripes
Blue = 3 stripes
Black = 2 stripes
White = 1 stripe
Gaosilver is the sixth ranger; he has 6 stripes, but he's a special case.
Order in roll call = Red - Yellow - Blue - Black - White - Silver

Hurricanger
Ninja and element themed series. No major role of numbers.
Three different teams ranked in the order of their appearance in the show as protagonists : Hurricanger  (Red, Blue, Yellow) - Gouraigers (Kabuto (crimson red) Kuwaga (navy blue))- Shurikenger  (Green)
Order in roll call (rangers)  : Red - Blue - Yellow - Kabuto - Kuwaga - Shurikenger.

Abaranger
Dinosaur themed series. No number motif. despite having a main ranger color, Abareblack is seen as an additional ranger. Moreover, Abarekiller is only with the team at the every end of the show.
Order in roll call : Red- Blue - Yellow - Black - Killer (white)

Dekaranger
As seen in the photos above, Dekaranger is one of the best examples of a series using a lot the number motif. Indeed, each main ranger (the five main rangers and Dekabreak, the sixth ranger) have their number shown very strikingly in their suits (for Dekabreak, it is in Roman numbers, unlike the main 5, which have arabic numbers). Furthermore, at the top of the helmets, black spots can be seen, and there is as much black spots as the rank of the rangers.  The numbers are kept when the rangers use the SWAT mode.
The five core rangers also have their individual mechas that have numbers on them, each number matching their rank: both the mechas used to make the Dekaranger Robo and the Dekawing Robo have those numbers.
Lastly, when they use the Dekabase, the rangers are next to pillars having numbers matching their own.
The ranks are :
Red = 1
Blue = 2
Green = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Break (white) = 6
Special case : DekaMaster (Doggie Kruger) who has the number 100 : but since he's the boss, that number isn't a rank, but more a way to show how badass he is.
The other rangers (Dekaswan (white-oranger) and Dekabright (Silver) only appear once or twice and won't be taken into account.
Order in roll call = Red - Blue - Green - Yellow - Pink - Break - Master (as Bangai hero, Master comes after the sixth ranger)

Magiranger
Sibling team,  magic and elemental themes. No emphasis on numbers.
Interesting element : unlike the other sibling teams, the red ranger is the youngest, and among the main five rangers, they are ranked starting with the youngest until the oldest. Additional rangers come afterwards, first the sixth ranger Magishine, then, the Bangai heroes, Mather and Wolzard Fire (the heroes's parents)
Order in roll call : Red - Yellow - Blue - Pink - Green - Shine (gold) - Mother (white) - Wolzard Fire

Boukenger
In Boukenger, the rangers aren't themed by numbers. However the mechas (GogoVehicle) are.  As a result, the five main heroes have their main mechas with numbers matching their rank among the team. In an interesting case, the second in rank isn't the second in command (Black is the second in rank, but he's the rebellious one ;  Pink is pretty much the second in command). Because more mechas appear between the beginning of the show and Silver (the sixth ranger)'s introduction, Silver doesn't use the mechas numbered 6. Only the five main rangers are ranked according to their main personal mechas.
Red  = 1
Black = 2
Blue = 3
Yellow = 4
Pink = 5
Interestingly, in the Daivoyager, the five heroes uses vehicles with numbers increasing in the same order :
Red = 14
Black = 15
Blue = 16
Yellow = 17
Pink = 18
Order in roll call = Red- Black - Blue - Yellow - Pink - Silver - (Zubaan)

Gekiranger
Animal and martial arts theme : no emphasis on numbers. Violet and Chopper are additional rangers;  Rio and Mele are Bangai heroes at the end.
Order in roll call  : Red - Yellow - Blue - Violet - Chopper - Rio (black) - Mele (green)

Go-onger
Like in Boukenger, the numbers are used, but mostly for the mechas, the Engines, which are sentient. Indeed, each Engine has a number.  While the five main rangers are ranked according to the ranking of their personal partner, and also have the number of their partners on their suit, and in the cockpit of the robots involving their Engine partners. However, the sixth Engine appear before the additional rangers (the  Go-on Wings) and as such, the Go-on Wings partners are Engines number 7 for Gold and 8 for Silver. Unlike the main 5, the Go-on Wings haven't numbers on their suits. Like the Go-ongers, the number of their personal partner appear in the cockpit.
For the five main Go-onger, the rank is
Red = 1
Blue = 2
Yellow = 3
Green = 4
Black = 5
Gold is the sixth with Engine 7
Silver is the seventh with Engine 8
Order in roll call = Red - Blue - Yellow - Green - Black - Gold - Silver.

Shinkenger
Samurai and kanji theme. No emphasis on numbers
At the end, a female Shinkenred replaces temporarly the first Shinkenred and has the same rank as him. No Emphasis on numbers.
Order in roll call : Red (including HimeShinkenred) - Blue - Pink - Green - Yellow - Gold

Goseiger
Angel and elemental tribe theme. No emphasis on numbers.
Tribes ranked in the order Skyick (Red-Pink) Landick (Black - Yellow) and Seaick (Blue)
Order in roll call = Red - Pink - Black - Yellow - Blue - Knight (silver)

Gokaiger
Pirate and sentai franchise tribute. No emphasis on numbers. The heroes are ranked in the order they've joined the pirate crew.
Order in roll call : Red - Blue - Yellow - Green - Pink - Silver

Go-Busters 
Again, the main item which uses the number motif are the heroes's individual mechas which have the numbers matching each ranger's rank
Red= 1 (CB-01)
Blue  = 2 (GT-02)
Yellow = 3 (RH-03)
Beet (Gold) = 4 (BC-04)
Stag (Silver) = 5 (SJ-05)

Order in roll call = Red - Blue- Yellow - Beet - Stag 

Kyoryuger
Here, there are ten rangers. Here, it's the main item used by the heroes (the Zyudenchi, Beast Batteries) which have numbers. Each hero is ranked according to the Zyudenchi he uses to change and which matches his Zyudenryu (the dino mecha) partner. Besides, even additional Zyudenchi, which are dinos not used as mechas are numbered, with at the end, 23 different Zyudenchi (not counting special ones, like Tobaspinoh's)
There is here four groups of rangers :
Core five = Red, Black, Blue, Green, Pink
Sixth ranger, which joins the core five : Gold
Additional rangers, joining sporadically : Cyan, Grey, Violet
Promoted mentor : Silver
They are ranled are follow:
Red = 1
Black = 2
Blue = 3
Green = 4
Pink = 5
Gold = 6
Cyan = 7
Grey = 8
Violet = 9
Silver = 10


Conclusion : Tokkyuger is far from the first sentai putting high emphasis on numbers, since several series also have used that gimmick, notably those with vehicle mechas, such as Carranger, GogoV and Dekaranger.

A little comment about the way the colors are ranked :
Red is always first.

Black is usually in second : black rangers are usually second in commands (Goggle, Dyna, Change, Mask, Turbo, Jet, Zyu, Mega, Bouken, Kyoryu). Most of the cases where Black is much lower in rank are series where Black is in a way an additional ranger (Live, Aba, Go-on), or special cases, like Five, Battle Fever, Kaku, Gosei and Gao.

Green : at the beginning, ( Goren, JAKQ, Denzi ), Green was the young one, and was usually fourth, just before the girl ranger. Starting with Bioman, until Gingaman, Green was usually the second in command (similar to Black) (Bio, Flash, Dai, Oh, Gingaman) ; the only exceptions being Live, where he was additional, and Car, where he is number 3. 
Starting with GogoV, Green was either number 3 (Gogo, Deka), but, even more often, was again the youngest male ranger, in rank 4 (Shinken, Gokai, Kyoryu) or even 5 (Time) Magi is a special case, with Green being number 5

Blue : he is second in command when neither a Green or a Black are second in command (Goren, JAKQ, Denzi, Sun, Five, Car, Gogo, Hurri, Aba, Deka, Go-on, Shinken, Gokai, Go-Busters), otherwise, he's usually in third rank ( Battle Fever, Goggle, Dyna, Bio, Change, Flash, Mask, Live, Turbo, Zyu, Dai, Oh, Mega, Ginga, Time, Gao, Magi, Bouken, Geki, Kyoryu). in very few occasions, he can be very late in the ranking (Kaku, Gosei, Jet).

Yellow: He's usually in fourth rank, especially if Yellow is female (Goggle, Dyna, Bio, Flash, Mask, Turbo, Zyu, Dai, Oh, Car, Mega, Ginga, Gogo, Time, Deka, Bouken, Gosei, Gokai). He (or she) can be second (notably if leader or second in command (Live, Gao, Magi,  Geki) or third, notably in three man teams (Sun, Hurri, Aba, Go-onger (special case),  Go-Busters) or teams where Green is fourth (Goren, Denzi, Gokai) or in a special case (Jet). In a few cases where Yellow is female and very young , she replaces Pink as the last one  (Five, Shinken)

Pink is usually number 5. Exceptions are Time (despite having the number 5), Five,  Shinken and Gosei (and in a way, Goren).

White, as a female regular, is either 4 (Mermaid, Swan) or 5 (Gao).  In Kaku, White is number 2, as the leader.

Metal colors (Gold, Silver) from additional rangers come after the five main ones. When Gold and Silver are together, Gold comes first.