Denji Sentai Megaranger Review

Another of the 90's Sentai. I went in knowing this was gonna be really episodic and I'd heard a lot of praise for this show. It was well worth my time and I ended up having a lot of fun with it. Yeah I really don't have much to say for the introduction. So lets get down to business...Install Megaranger!

The show opens up with  high school student Kenta Date playing a video game in an arcade called Megaranger. After showing off his skill at the game, he is approached by INET to assist with their research project. Meanwhile 4 of his classmates show up to find out more about INET just as Nezirejia launches its first attack. Having no other choice, Dr. Kubota hands them their Digitizers so they can become the Megarangers.

Characters: I like this team a lot. The main five are one of the most believable groups of friends I've ever seen. Sure they all have their differences but they still mesh well together. It really helps that their personalities don't really conflict to the point where I can't buy them being friends.

• Kenta/MegaRed: Kenta is a love-able goofball while being a bit reckless. I quite like that he isn't as tech-savy or as smart as the other members of the team. He can be a bit lazy but he has a big heart and will fight tooth and nail for his friends. He is also pretty driven to make up for his failings when he screws up in battle. A great episode for him is the one where Gurail tricked him into injuring a kid mid-fight.
• Kouichiro/MegaBlack: Koichirou is the leader of the team and the one who takes being a Megaranger most seriously. He pretty much keeps his teammates on their toes and tries to make sure they're training. He can be a little uptight at times and there are one or two episodes where the main message is that he needs to chill out and relax. He also tends to overdo his role as leader a bit and in an early episode, he outright blames himself for the team falling into a trap. Episode 16 in particular shows a rather vulnerable side to him.
• Shun/MegaBlue: Shun is the smartest one on the team. He is usually pretty calm and collected while being quick to react and figure out some of the science behind Nezirejia's plans in a few instances. A prime example of his intelligence is the episode where he comes with a trap within a trap to throw off the Nezirangers. He is also kinda oblivious to Miku's feelings for him.
• Chisato/MegaYellow: Chisato is more serious and mature compared to Miku and she is probably the most resourceful team member next to Shun. She is smart and able to think on her feet, especially when she has to risk revealing her identity to stop the MOTW or save someone. Her dream is to be professional photographer and the show actually shows her dabbling into that hobby a few times. She and Miku feel like they're the closest out of the whole group of friends. She has some pretty cool focus episodes.
• Miku/MegaPink: Miku is adorably upbeat most of the time while being goofy like Kenta. She is without a doubt one of the kindest characters I've seen so far. I liked her so much that Shun being oblivious to her feelings kinda made me a bit sad. Its a tough call but Miku is probably my favorite character in the show. Her best episode is the Super Miku episode cuz Chisato helps talk her through her insecurities and short-comings so she feels like less of a burden on the team.
• Yusaku/MegaSilver: Yusaku is a goofball. When he first showed up, he felt a lot like an older more tech-savy Kenta. He tends to do stuff behind his boss' back in order to do projects that will help out the team. Despite being the oldest and a researcher for INET, he acts just like the Kenta and Miku. Its a pretty cool dynamic and he feels right at home on the team. The suit's time limit after his debut was a good way to use him effectively and I do like that you actually get to see him fix it.

Dr. Kubota is easily one of my favorite mentors, if not my overall favorite mentor. He is wound a little too tightly at times but he is constantly sticking up for the kids and believing in them. He even hopped into Galaxy Mega in an early episode when it was close to being destroyed just to show the higher ups how important it was that the kids be the ones allowed to pilot it. He showed that he really cared for them and understood that they had their own lives to live to the point of not wanting to disturb Kouichiro and Chisato's entrance exams unless he absolutely had to. Yusaku makes his job harder by doing projects behind his back but he does genuinely appreciate the guy's work in helping the team so long as he can stay on task. I think a lot of his concerns about Yusaku doing that comes from the seeming death of his friend Samejima who he failed to stop from transporting himself into the Nezire dimension (he finds out later what really happened to the guy).

Villains:

The Nezirejia villains have some nice presence and style to them. They have one of the best debuts I've seen in Sentai. In the first episode, they manage to absolutely decimate INET's earth base forcing them to flee into space. That introduction felt like something you'd see in a series finale. Their plans over the course of the series have this insane level of danger to them. The designs for the main three Nezirejia villains are pretty good. Dr Hinelar has this mad scientist vibe and an otherworldly look to him and the actor (Tetsuo Morishita) gives him quite a lot presence and that hairstyle is absolutely splendid. He also has a large ego and a lot of ambition and the actor portrays that rather well. He was originally one of Kubota's friends while working at INET and he defected to Nejirezia because he felt like he wasn't given his due. He also really despises Kubota because INET chose Kubota's project over his own. The final episode adds something that says quite a lot about his character and adds a whole new level to his relationship to Shiborena. I'm not going to spoil it in this review because man its a doozy. Its not mentioned in the show but given his righteous fury and malice toward Gurail for using Yugande like a tool, I wouldn't be surprised if he has the same sentimental attachment to him that he has with Shiborena. Yugande has this neat wire-frame look to him and he is a pretty good power-house villain. I think its pretty cool that he upgrades himself after being the times he takes the Megarangers on himself. Its a good way to keep him feeling like a threat. He is also extremely loyal to Dr Hinelar. Shiborena's armor looks great and has some nice detail to it. The shade of blue is pretty nice. Her plans always seemed to have this mind control component to them. Like Yugande, she is extremely loyal to Dr Hinelar.

Gurail is a powerhouse, really sadistic, and deliciously evil. I don't really have much to say about him other than him bringing a nice amount of threat to the show. He is basically brought in by King Javious because Hinelar and the others are taking too long to take the Megaranger's out of the picture conquer earth. He also carries out King Javious' will but mostly he is there for world building. His appearance also leads to a stronger breed of Nezire beasts being created.

The Nezirangers are nice and intimidating. They're pretty powerful villains while also being nicely dysfunctional as a group. They are sadistic and have tunnel vision when it comes to fighting their specific Megaranger. The best part about this is the second the Megaranger's realize this, they immediately start hammering on this weakpoint. Its a nice instance of them having to out-think an opponent as opposed to simply over-powering them. NeziPink and NeziYellow actively took pot-shots at each other in one episode and the rest of the team felt nothing when NeziPink and NeziBlue were destroyed. I love it so much and its a good example of Hinelar's ego and arrogance being carried over to his creations since they are made in his image. They see each other purely as a means to an end. Despite them being so monstrous, I legitimately felt bad for them when they found out they were gonna die. It takes a lot for a show to make me feel that way about monstrous characters like them.

Favorite Episode: My favorite episode is episode 16, the aptly named "Very Bad! Will We Die?". The basic plot of the episode is that Moth Nezire is sent out to spread powder that places a moth shaped mark on people when it touches them. Those with the mark will die within 24 hours and naturally all 5 of them get hit by it. While Kenta, Shun, and Miku decide to try to live out their dreams in the one day they have left, Kouichiro and Chisato desperately try to find the cure. Over the course of doing their things, those 3 run across people around town going on about their plans for the next day while noticing that every one of them have the mark. It dawns on them that if they don't do something, more people will die. The desperation on Kouichiro and Chisato's side hits when they're having no luck on finding a cure and Kouichiro breaks down looking at a picture of his family. The resulting fight against the monster is the most tense fight in the show imo because not only is it a race against time, the suits stop functioning because they're dying. They fight tooth and nail despite that. Its a great episode and its the first time that it really sunk in for me that at the end of the day, they're still kids while at the same time the episode proves that they have what it takes to be heroes. I was close to tears throughout this episode. This kind of thing is the reason I watch superhero stuff. Even though I knew they'd obviously survive and win the day, this episode was so effective that it actually made me think they might not survive. This episode is a prime example of why I like this team so much. It is easily one of my favorite episodes in all of Sentai.

Mecha: This review is already getting kind of long so I'll just talk about the mecha briefly. Galaxy Mega is pretty cool. Its a nice starting mecha for the show and there is an early episode thats a good example of how much the team needs it. Delta Mega is a nice solo robot that gets a surprising amount of use even after it becomes able to combine with Galaxy Mega. Its operated entirely by pumping Kenta's voice through the Battle Riser. Voice controls are just a cool control scheme imo. Now with that being said, my favorite mecha in the show is probably Mega Voyager since its episodes are extremely tense. Its a pretty cool 5-part mecha housed in a base on the moon. Its powerhouse and its debut really ramps up the steaks since its made pretty clear that the Megarangers might not stand a chance without from here on out. MegaSilver has his own mecha called the MegaWinger. Its an alright mecha but it shows up kind of late and its pretty much stated in its debut that it exists to combine with Mega Voyager. This is mainly just done by passing its glider wings to Mega Voyager. I would've like to see more of what it could do on its own.

Music: The music is pretty good. The opening is nice and energetic. It really helped build up the hype for every episode. I couldn't help but get up and dance while singing along with the song. The ending theme is a nice closer to each episode. Its pretty mellow while at the same time sounding uplifting. It pops up throughout the show a lot because a slowed down instrumental version is used for the slower more dramatic scenes and it sets the mood for scenes pretty well.

Final Thoughts: Without a doubt, my favorite part of this show is the high school setting. Seeing these kids try to balance their school lives with being Megarangers was fun and the high school angle had me pretty interested. It actually showed the consequences of them having to fight, especially the episode where Kouichiro and Chisato had to choose between their entrance exams and saving the civilians. Seeing them miss their exams because of Nezirejia made me tear up. The show kept making that dynamic clear and it helped reinforce that they still had their own lives to live after being Megarangers. All of that is in addition to them having to keep their identities a secret even from the villains of the show. Oh boy does it hard when that shoe drops in the final few episodes. Its one of the most crushing moments in Sentai for me because the villains do not hesitate to destroy their personal lives when they find out and I felt just as bad as the characters did. The episodic nature of the show made for some really great and memorable moments while also making it easy to binge. The final 2 episodes made me tear up and it hands down one of my benchmarks for how to do a mecha fight as well as probably being my favorite finale in all of Sentai. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this show and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. Note: I didn't cover the suits here because I already gave my thoughts about them in the 90's Sentai suit post and the review was already rather long.

Ultraman R/B Review

I decided to check this show out on a whim not long ago because I thought it would be a fun distraction. I ended up getting a lot more out of this show than I was expecting to and I had a lot of fun with it. I tend not binge shows these days to avoid burnout but this show had me hooked pretty early on. I ended up watching four episodes a day instead of my usual two a day. Without further adieu...Color me with your power, R/B!

Premise: Ayaka City is a peaceful city funded by a mega corporation called Aizen Tech. On the 15th anniversary of their mother's disappearance, a monster appears while two brothers are investigating strange vibrations. The brothers, Katsumi and Isami Minato, are saved from certain death by the R/B Gyros and granted the power to become Ultraman Rosso and Ultraman Blu. From then on they protect their city from monsters that seem to be popping up mysteriously.

Characters: The main characters are the Minato family consisting of: Katsumi, Isami, Asahi, and their father Ushio. Their mother, Mio Minato, mysteriously disappeared 15 years ago. They still run the clothing store they ran back when she was around. The whole family overall is pretty likeable. Katsumi and Isami play off each other well and their bickering is pretty believable. Katsumi tends to be more serious and careful, always looking out for Isami and taking his role as older brother seriously. Isami is pretty smart and carefree while being able to think quickly in an emergency. Asahi is wonderfully upbeat and is always striving to keep Katsumi and Isami from fighting too much while bringing them back together when they storm off. I kinda see her as the glue holding the family together. Ushio plays the goofy dad pretty well and cares deeply for his children. He also gets a pretty good and touching episode to himself. Not gonna lie, I would totally buy his gag shirts cuz I like weird stuff like that. While they have moved on, her disappearance does tend to weigh on Katsumi, Isami, and Ushio from time to time. Asahi has this whole other thing going on with her but I'm not really gonna get into it cuz it would result in me giving away a big spoiler.

Villains:

Makoto Aizen is a joy to watch on-screen. The dude is pretty much a quirky tech genius as well as being a massive fan of Ultraman Orb. He can be rather overzealous in his views of what an Ultraman should be and how they should act. He isn't actually evil, he just has misguided views on Ultras and goes overboard. In fact, the dude is so misguided that he managed to twist the power of the Orb Origin crystal to the point where it made him into a dark version of Orb. He goes so far that he will prioritize taking down a monster over protecting the city and even people. Dude causes a lot of collateral damage in his fights. He also kinda likes to use Ayaka City to play out his little hero fantasy. Motoki Fukami plays the role well and its amazing how fast he can go from quirky and eccentric to dead serious and scary. He also gets pretty hammy in his introduction and I love him for it. Seriously, Aizen is practically made of  ham before he reveals what his deal is.

Saki Mitsurugi is such a great villain. In fact, her story is so good that I'm going to do my best not to spoil a big revelation about her. She is cold, distant, and unattached due to the pain of losing someone close to her. She is completely driven by this pain and is willing to do anything to fulfill a vow she made to the ones she lost. Her actress (Ayane Kinoshita) perfectly portrays the sense of desperation and callousness that the character needs to work while also giving her that nice amount of humanity when her facade cracks to make her seem more real and complex. Its usually really hard for me to like villains like her since some tend to just ignore the human aspects of pain and loss and just what they can drive a person to do. While Aizen is the quirky fun villain, Saki is pretty much the serious driven villain who is fundamentally broken as a person.

Favorite Episode: 

Aside from the endgame stuff (not talking about that because it delves into stuff I don't want to spoil), my favorite episodes are episodes 10, 11, and 12. Its where the show has a major shakeup and the stakes just get higher after these episodes. These are pretty top notch episodes and they introduce a new monster to the franchise that quickly became a favorite of mine: Horoboros. Horobos straight up feels like a force of nature and its design is fantastic. They way it fights just feels me with so much joy, its like a watching a wild animal ruthlessly hunting its prey. It completely wipes the floor with the Minato brothers and Aizen at one point during this arc. It makes the brothers finally overcoming it feel so amazing. I finished these episodes before watching Horobos' episode in Ultraman Z so I was really hyped to see this monster again.

Effects: As is the usual with Ultra shows, the effects are pretty good. All the miniatures are fantastically detailed as is expected from Tsuburaya. One episode features a really good effect where a sinkhole appears in the model city and the roads crumbled so well that I was kinda of awestruck and had to rewatch it three times. The show also has them interact with the model sets a lot and its pretty cool each time it happens. Whether its pole-vaulting over a building for a drop kick, ripping a tree out of the ground to smack a monster, or even Aizen washing his hands in a lake mid-fight, it all looks fantastic.

Action: Since there are two Ultras from the get-go, just about every fight is a two-on-one fight. It leads to some pretty cool combo moves between the two brothers. The show manages to keep the action nice and tense each episode despite the two-on-one odds. Some fights even feel unwinnable if only one of them is fighting. The show handles the elemental aspects of Rosso and Blu's powers rather well. The powers work differently depending on which brother is using which crystal. It leads to a nice variety of abilities between the two so they don't feel same-y despite the crystal swapping. It also lets them use some sweet looking combo attacks.

Final Thoughts: The show is rather small scale in terms of the setting with each episode taking place in this one city making it feel comfortable and cozy. At the end of the day, Ultraman R/B is a story about family and it handles that theme really well right down to the bickering and arguments. Like I said in the introduction, I wasn't expecting this show to draw me in the way it did. I also wasn't expecting it to go as deep as it did with the villains. I was legitimately crying by the time the final episode came around because I didn't want it to end. Overall, its a pretty solid and well made show with a lot of love poured into it. My only complaint is that the crystals being themed after Ultramen doesn't really come up in the show but thats a pretty minor complaint and the Ultras chosen for each crystal were nice choices. If you haven't seen yet, I recommend it. I'm hesitant to rank this show at the moment because at the time of this post, I've only finished Ultraman 1996, Ultraman Nexus, and this as far as this franchise goes.

Ultraman 1966 Review

I'm going to approach this a little differently compared to my other reviews. This is because its purely an episodic MOTW show with no overarching plot so you can pretty much pick up any episode after the first episode and not be lost. Due to this, I'm mostly going to go over the premise, my favorite character, the effects, and episodes that stood out to me.

Premise: SSSP officer Shin Hayata is sent to track two odd glowing spheres flying over Lake Ryugamori. While trying to keep up with them, the red sphere collides with his plane, killing him. The being known as Ultraman merges with him, bringing him back to life and grants him a device that will allow him to turn into the being in order to fight monsters.

Favorite character: 

The main cast is perfectly fine and they play their roles rather well but due to the nature of the show, they don't get a lot of development. Hayata is probably the least developed imo but its not that big a deal given the show is sort of being a scifi anthology with kaiju fights. My favorite character is definitely Mitsuhiro Ide. He pretty much steals the show for me and his actor (Masanari Nihei) gives the best performance out of all of them. He is the team's scientist as well as the comic relief in certain episodes while also managing to give a good dramatic performance in other episodes. The episode "My Home Is Earth" has the man's best performance in the entire show.

Effects: The effects hold up pretty well all things considered. Very few of them look out of date and even the kaiju suits look pretty good. The miniatures are fantastic and pretty realistically detailed. There are a lot of varied sets and the show makes great use of them. Given the time the show was made in, it goes without saying that every single major effect in this show that can be done practically is done practically. They aren't even afraid to light a really expensive looking model city on fire in a few episodes. The only effect that doesn't hold up imo is the side-view of the Jet Vtol flying but thats mostly because its a rather simple looking model and it looks better from an overhead-view so I'm not really gonna hold that against the show.

Favorite Episodes: There really isn't a single episode I dislike as most run the gambit between pretty good to ok for me. Whether its the episode scenarios or the kaiju themselves, there is always something at the very least interesting about each episode. The kaiju fights are handled pretty well and the kaiju all have some pretty interesting and memorable designs. Every episode is pretty much self-contained so you can really jump in anywhere imo. Here are some of the ones that stood out to me.

Episode 2: Shoot the Invaders!

This episode is great because of how well it presents the Baltans and they are its main strength. The plot of the episode is that the Baltans show up to invade colonize Earth after their planet was destroyed by their own dependence on nuclear energy. They have this mysterious and unsettling vibe to them. It makes them feel appropriately alien, creepy, and really dangerous. They feel like alien ninjas to me and they honestly kind of scare me. They're pretty much my favorite monster in the show and potentially my favorite out of the whole franchise. I was so glad to see them return in episode 16.

Episode 12: Cry of the Mummy

I love this episode a lot. Its pretty heart-wrenching and tragic. Basically the plot of this episode is that a group of archaeologists dig up a mummy and it wakes up and goes on a rampage. Once Mummy Man dies, that causes Dodongo to wake up and goes on a rampage forcing Ultraman to put it down. This episode stood out to me because its ending pretty much outright says that killing those two was not a good thing because it was humanity's fault they woke it up. The kaiju fight doesn't even have that triumphant feeling to it. Dodongo's defeat had me holding back tears precisely because the episode focuses on the tragedy of it having to die by lingering on its death wails and it doesn't even explode.

Episodes 26 and 27: The Monster Highness

The Monster Highness is the only two parter episode in the show and its pretty cool. The plot is basically that a scientist wants to capture a live Gomorasaurus and bring it to Japan as an expo exhibit. They put it to sleep so they can capture it and transport it. The anesthetic wears off along the way allowing Gomora to escape and it goes on a rampage. What makes Gomora so great in these episodes is that its a normally docile monster that ends up being a powerhouse and it even manages to beat Ultraman in its first fight. The rematch is pretty brutal because Ultraman is quite literally ripping Gomora apart. Its not as tragic and sad feeling as Cry of the Mummy as this whole episode has the "Don't poke the giant multi-ton bear" vibe to it due to the sheer scale of damage Gomora does.

Final Thoughts: Its a pretty solid episodic scifi show. It holds up pretty well as far as I'm concerned. It was cool seeing Ultraman's look get more refined over the course of the show. The type A helmet (episodes 1-13) made him look kind of creepy given how roughly it was sculpted so I was glad to see them switch to a smoother one. They also made the suit look more muscular as the show progressed. Like I said earlier, pretty much every episode is self-contained, even the final episode, so you can jump around the show if you feel like it and not worry about feeling lost. Overall, I really do recommend the show if you want some good old episodic kaiju/scifi fun.

Sentai Suits Through The Ages: The 90's

The 80's were a pretty strong decade for suit designs so now lets move on to the 90's.

Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman:

The big Vs going across the torso look pretty cool and without them the design might be a little too simple. The yellow highlights work well on all five suits. Its also really rare to see them on a yellow suit as normally they'd be replaced with black so they can be seen more easily. The helmets look nice and I like each one has its own emblem on the forehead. The white stripes going down the middle looks good alongside their respective colors. Its a nice touch and it keeps the helmets from simply being one solid color. Red's has a nice little extra bit of flair since his stripe enters the visor of his helmet. It even ends in a little arrow that matches the shape of his visor. I like the segmented visors but I kinda think they went overboard on Yellow and Pink's. They don't look bad per say, more so that they are segmented in a way that looks unnatural given with the visors' shapes. The yellow bands looks good on the white gloves and boots. Overall while not one of the first designs I think of when it comes to this decade, its a perfectly fine design.

Chojin Sentai Jetman:

The bird insignia on the chest looks pretty cool and I love how it wraps around the shoulders. The helmets on all 5 suits look pretty cool and they get the bird motif across really well. They also sort of complete the bird insignia on the chest. The silver mouthpieces look alright on each helmet. The yellow highlights on every Jetman besides Yellow Owl look pretty good with all their main colors. In Yellow Owl's case the highlights are black and they were rather well with the his color. Blue Swallow marks the first time that this shade of blue has been used and it works well with her overall design. The white portions of the suits work well for the ones that they're on. I think they look pretty good and compliment their main colors rather well. I think they look the best on Blue Swallow as there is just something about how that shade of blue mixes with the white and the accompanying yellow highlights. Its probably because its a nice light shade of blue as opposed to all the standard blues the franchise has had before now. It makes the suit feel like it has this sort of shimmer to it. Due to white being her main color, the bits on White Swan's chest and legs are pink instead. The bird emblem on the belts is the icing on top of these designs. Overall these suits are one of my favorites of this decade and Blue Swallow is probably my fav design on this team.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger:

They're rather simple but pretty distinct. The white diamond pattern on the main five's chests looks pretty good. The diamond patterns on their boots and gloves are a nice contrast to that since its in their main colors. The white trim on PteraRanger's skirt is a nice touch.The Dino Bucklers on the belts really ties the main five's suits together. The sculpting on all six helmets is great and there is a nice amount of detail on them. I particularly like the sculpting on MammothRanger's trunk/tusks and TigerRanger's fangs. MammothRanger's trunk even goes into his visor. PteraRanger's helmet looks nice thanks to the mixture of white and pink. Most of her helmet is actually white and I love it because it give the pink portion a sort domino mask or faceplate-esque look. Her Pteradon head even extends down into her visor. Its notable because unlike PteraRanger and MammothRanger, the other four's visors are the mouths of their dinosaurs. DragonRanger's suit looks cool. Its a tweaked Zyuranger suit obviously which is to be expected because its a sixth ranger suit after all. His gloves and boots have gold bands on them and a spike pattern instead of a diamond pattern. The chestplate looks cool and the center replicates the diamond that the other Zyuranger's have. The gold on the suit makes the green pop really well and the gold Dino Buckler brings his look together.

Gosei Sentai Dairanger:

The helmets get their mythical beasts across nicely. All six stand out pretty well and I think my favorite helmet might be RyuRanger's due to how well the black on the forehead works with the gold and red. The silver mouthplates look cool and each one has a slightly different design. I think HououRanger's mouthplate looks the best and works with her phoenix motif since it resembles a bird's beak. The white torso on the main five's suits balance out their colors really well. It really captures the martial artist look and gives the suits a very classic vibe. The white bands with gold outlines on the boots and gloves look cool and that color combo really makes their main colors pop. The gold trim on HououRanger's skirt is a nice touch. I particularly like the Dairanger emblem because of how well it uses all 5's colors and its neat that it looks a little bit like a fist. Kibaranger's suit is cool cuz its just a Dairanger suit with a chestplate added. The gold and black works well on the chestplate and I like the emblem in the center but I do think its a little too big. The gold bands on the boots and gloves being outlined in black looks pretty good and all the gold in his suit in general really makes the white pop.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger:

The suits look exactly how you'd expect a ninja team to look. They're pretty much a perfect example of the "less is more" approach and there is a lot of beauty in that. The gold headbands look pretty cool on all 5 suits and each one has a different symbol on it. The gold belts on Red, Blue, Black, and White work well with their colors. NinjaBlue is a nice light shade of blue which is interesting as its the only time that I know of that a male blue ranger has used that shade. Yellow and Black's suits probably make the best use of the black and white bands on the gloves and boots out of the whole team. For Yellow, its probably because the bands match his belt and it completes his look rather well. The V's on the torso work well to break up the simple design. The black around the necks is a nice touch and I especially like that the tips of the V's are gold (well black in Yellow's case).

Choriki Sentai Ohranger:

The suits have this ancient vibe to them. The helmets look alright and the visors on the main five look good outlined in white. The sculpted mouth-pieces matching each one's respective colors is cool and it kind of reminds me of those Easter Island statues. The weathered gold on the main five's torsos looks pretty good and there is quite a lot of detail on that portion. It looks almost like its engraved metal even tho its still spandex. The gold bands compliment the white gloves and boots rather well as does the white neckline on the torso. The gold trim on Pink and Yellow's skirts is a nice touch. KingRanger's suit looks the best to me, mostly cuz its an Ohranger suit with extra gold armor added to it. The sculpting on his chestplate is great and there is some nice detail in there. His visor looks good outlined in gold. The white gloves and boots really compliment the black spandex and gold armor. The gold belts on all 6 suits look pretty cool and even include all of their shape symbols.

Gekisou Sentai Carranger:

Ignore White Racer for the moment as I couldn't find a decent looking pic without her and hers isn't really a suit per say. These suits look pretty stellar and I love the car panel designs going down the sides. The helmets capture the car motif pretty well and the chrome molding around the visors looks amazing. The helmets even have headlights on them and I just find that to be really cool touch on top of the chrome molding. The sculpted silver mouth pieces look pretty cool when paired with the chrome molding and they look like they're almost sunken into the helmets. The yellow around the neck and on the chest pairs well with the black surrounding them. The black bands on the gloves and boots look good and contrasts nicely with the white. I like that the Carranger emblem is a patch on the arms as opposed to a patch on the chest as it doesn't distract from the rest of the torsos' design. The headlight belt buckle really ties these suits together nicely.

Denji Sentai Megaranger:

These suits are pretty sleek and stylish while being just simple enough. The white on the main five suits helps their main colors pop really well and the white gloves and boots look cool. The yellow around the neck is interesting as you don't usually see that on a team with a Yellow on it. The main five's suits also have little squares going across the white stripe on the chest that match all five of their colors. Its a rather neat detail and it looks better than it would to have them all simply incorporated into an emblem. The white highlights on the main five's helmets work well with their colors and look pretty cool with the silver mouthplates. This Sentai marks the first introduction of a Silver. The gold highlights on the suit look great alongside the silver. His suit includes gold bands that look pretty good alongside his gloves and boots. The green squares look pretty good on the gold stripe going across his chest and if you look closer, they have this sort of wire-frame pattern on them. Its a rather cool and fitting small detail since in-show the suit is a prototype. The glass domes on all six helmets look pretty cool and make them look hi-tech. The domes can actually light up as well which is a really cool touch. The Megaranger emblem on the helmets and belts is a neat detail and it helps bring the overall look together.

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman:

The sculpting on all 5 helmets looks pretty cool and they show off their animals rather well. GingaRed's helmet has these cool looking yellow streaks to match GingaLion's mane. Its a nice touch and it looks pretty good with the red. The silver portions on the other four's helmets look pretty good and the silver works well with their colors. The animal eyes on top of the visors is a nice touch and they make the visors look like wide open animal mouths. The silver mouthpieces look pretty good and the way they're sculpted gives the helmets this tribal war mask vibe. The tribal pattern on the chest, arms, and boots looks pretty good. These suits have the best color balancing I've seen so far. The white portions of the suits are used in a way that perfectly balances out their main colors without overpowering them. Other suits so far have done that too but its more noticeable on these suits for me. The white portion on the chest look like tunics which fits pretty well with the tribal aesthetic. The black tribal patterns really make all 5 colors pop. Overall, its a pretty stellar look.

Kyuukyuu Sentai GogoV:

These look pretty dynamic while being rather sleek and streamlined. The white portions on the torso look cool and work well with their main colors. They also really make all 5 colors pop. None of the colors on any suit overpower the others. I like how their visors are each shaped like a badge belonging to each sibling's profession. Yellow's visor actually makes his helmet look a little slimmer than the others. Maybe its because the visor is kind of square-ish and the bottom corners lineup with where it slopes into the jawline. The gold belt looks good and a nice small detail is that the team's emblem isn't just on the belt, its also on the gloves and boots. The emblem being blue really compliments the gold surrounding it. The gold bands look pretty good paired with the white gloves and boots.

Man this decade sure loved gold highlights/accents. Half of the suits in this decade have them in some capacity. If I had to pick my favorite suits out of this decade, it'd be either Jetman or Dairanger. With that being said, I think Carranger has the best helmets this decade. Overall, its another pretty solid decade for Sentai designs. You may have noticed Ninjaman, Signalman, Hyuuga, and a few others are missing, I'll be covering those and any others that I miss in this series in a later post once I'm caught up to the present.

Sentai Suits Through The Ages: The 80's

Now we make our way into the 80's. I forgot to mention this in the 70's post but a good chunk of the early Sentai suits were made of cloth, not spandex. So this decade is notable for a change in material even though early seasons in this decade still used cloth.

Denzi Sentai Denjiman:

These suits have a somewhat simple design and the white stripes across the torso help break it up a bit. The big D on the belt looks good as does the D on the chest. The white gloves and boots work well with all 5 colors as do the bands on them. The sculpted mouth-pieces look a bit rough to me but it helps with the team's distinct look so its fine. The glass covered circuitry, lights, and wiring in the helmets is a nice touch and it gives them a nice sci-fi/alien vibe. In addition to the visors being different shapes, the glass coverings are also different shapes so it adds some extra variety to the helmets. The yellow highlights on DenjiRed's helmet work well with the red. A nice little detail is that the belts includes their initials on the buckles. The scarves are also a really nice touch to have on Sentai suits in general.

Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan:

The suits look alright and I like the sun emblem on the chest. The white Vs on the chest looks pretty good and help break up the colors a bit. The helmets are the highlights of these designs imo as there is some nice detail on the animal designs. The shark on VulShark's helmet has gills and molded teeth. The yellow on VulEagle's helmet works well with the red. The silver mouth-pieces on the helmets look pretty good and add that little bit extra to the suits. I think it probably works best on VulEagle since the silver is flanked by the yellow. The colored Vs on the gloves and boots work well with the white on them. Also these suits have scarves which are just a cool touch in general that I want the franchise to bring them back.

Dai Sentai GoggleV:

The helmets look a bit too big for the suits to me but that might be due to the molding around the visor combined with the size of the silver mouth-pieces. The molding is gold on Red and Black and it works well with their colors. It also has this aged metal look to it which is a really nice touch. However, its silver on Blue, Yellow, and Pink and it works well with those three colors though I think it works slightly better on Blue and Yellow. The sculpted mouth-pieces look good though a bit too big but that is probably because they extend to the entire bottom jaw. It adds an extra bit of cool to them tho. The gems in their foreheads help add to the ancient relic vibe. The white on the chests works well with all 5 colors and the gold buckles on the belts work well. The gold emblem on the chest looks pretty good too and works well with the white chest. I like how the white gloves are broken up with a stripe matching each one's colors. The scarves on the suits are a nice touch but after how much I've gushed about scarves the last few times they've shown up, you probably knew I'd say that.

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman:

Two things to note right off the bat are the material and motif. This was the first Sentai to have spandex suits as they were made of cloth until this team. As for the motif, its probably well known by now but this was originally supposed to be a baseball themed team and you can tell. From the helmets to the torso to the lines down the legs, this sort of screams baseball Sentai. The white pants works perfectly with their colors and makes them really pop. The boots and gloves matching their main colors are a nice touch and I'm always glad to see Sentai suits doing this. The gold/yellow highlights on Red, Blue, and Pink work well with their colors. DynaYellow has all his gold highlights replaced with black and it helps make the yellow stand out a lot. The red highlights on DynaBlack look pretty good with the black on his suit. The gold on the helmets looks good with all five's colors and the silver mouth-pieces look good. Its a pretty solid design and a great first outing for the change to spandex.

Choudenshi Bioman:

The overall design is pretty simple and sleek but still unforgettable. They have this nice alien look about them while also looking pretty hi-tech. The circuit board going across the chest is a nice touch. The white compliments all 5 colors really well and makes the colors stand out more. The expanded white portions on the legs of Pink and Yellow makes them look a bit like they're some kind of wearing leggings on their suits. The helmets have super computer lights going through them and they can actually light up via practical effects. Its a nice touch and it feels like a step up from Denjiman's helmets. The panels on each helmet look great and the silver works well on each helmet. The silver headband look on top of the visors looks pretty good with the silver mouth-pieces. The Bioman emblem looks great in the belts and the gold contrasts well with the black on the belt. The silver bands wrapping around the white gloves and boots looks pretty good.

Dengeki Sentai Changeman:

These suits look pretty good. The yellow highlights on Red, Blue, and Black's helmets look pretty good and helps the colors pop. The pink highlights look pretty cool on Change Mermaid and really compliments the gold on her arms, belt, and boots. The white highlights on Change Phoenix's helmet look pretty good and compliment her color really well. The gold belts and bands look pretty good with all 5. Though I'd say it probably works the best on Change Mermaid for reasons mentioned earlier in this section. The white chest on all of them makes me think body armor and the emblems on all 5 helmets look pretty cool. The emblem on the chests looks pretty nice and I like how it shows off all 5's colors. Also the white portion of the emblem doesn't break up the symmetry of the chest design since its angled right where the corner of the design would be.

Choushinsei Flashman:

These suits are downright beautiful. It was discussing these suits with friends that actually made me want to do this series of posts. Whoever designed these suits got them perfect. They sell the sci-fi vibe really well. They're all pretty sleek looking and stylish. Each one's signature color works really well with the white portions and the black stripes going down the sides makes them pop, especially on the female suits. The helmets look nice and space-y and the prisms on them are a nice touch.I especially love the way the visor's open up. The silver mouth pieces look good with the white sides of the helmet and each one's main color. The colored bands next to the white gloves and boots look pretty cool. The bands above the boots look the best on Pink and Yellow due to the white leggings and the previously mentioned black stripe going down the sides. The suits manage to look both retro and futuristic at the same time so its a pretty timeless design imo. They are without a doubt my favorite suits out of this decade and some of my favorite suits in the franchise.

Hikari Sentai Maskman:

These are probably my second favorite suits from this decade. These designs are just straight up classic. They're pretty sleek and stream-lined and the big 5 logo looks cool. The white on the suits works well with all their colors and makes them pop. The white gloves look cool with the colored guards on the back. Its a detail I kinda wish Sentai would bring back. The white streaks down the boots look pretty good. In place of a belt, these suits have a white stripe between the torso and legs and it complements the overall design really well. The helmets look great with the white highlights and I love the earrings on Pink and Yellow. The earrings are a small detail you likely wouldn't notice outside of close-ups but when you do notice them, it makes Yellow and Pink's designs look even better. If I had to pick between the helmets, I'd say Red Mask's helmet is probably best because of how the white highlights are aligned.

Choujuu Sentai Liveman:

The helmets look fantastic and they capture each animal nicely. I particularly like the molded fangs on Yellow Lion and the horns on Green Sai. The white on all 5 helmets were makes their colors pop and the yellow beak on Red Falcon's helmet looks pretty good. I adore the silver mouth-pieces. The animals on each suit look great inside the giant white Vs. The white pants and sleeves help balance out their colors nicely and the blue trim on Blue Dolphin's skirt is a nice touch. The silver bands on the colored gloves and boots compliment all of their colors pretty well. The silver belts with the colored jewels in the middle look pretty good and work well with the rest of the suits.

Kousoku Sentai Turboranger:

The white going down their chests works well with all 5 colors. The yellow highlights around the chests of Blue, Pink, Red, and Black looks good and works well with their colors. However, I think the black highlights on Yellow's chest look the best. The emblem on the chest looks pretty good and it helps sell the car motif since its basically an engine. The helmets capture the car motif rather well and the silver highlights look pretty good on all 5 helmets. The silver mouthpiece looks pretty good with the helmets and as you can tell from previous sections, its shown up quite a lot during this era of Sentai. The gold bands on the gloves and boots look pretty good on all 5 suits but they are a little hard to see on Yellow's. They look pretty cool overall and are a nice way to close out this decade of suit designs.

This era of Sentai probably resulted in some of the most memorable designs in the franchise. Flashman, Liveman, and Maskman are probably the standout designs of this era. Denjiman and Sun Vulcan are alright overall despite being kinda simple and they still do have notable features to them. They feel a little like a hold-over from the 70s to me. Overall, the 80s are pretty strong decade as far as the designs go.

Sentai Suits Through The Ages: The 70's

Super Sentai has had a vast number of suits for its heroes. Naturally these suits have changed in style, vibe, and even material throughout the years. I figured a post like this would be a good way to show how much the franchise has changed over the years as far as aesthetics go. What I'm basically going to do for this series of posts is cover every Sentai team's suits by the decades they aired and each decade will have its own post. Due to this, this post is gonna be the shortest since only 3 Sentai series aired in the 70's.

Himitsu Sentai Gorenger:

The first sentai suits ever. They're rather simple overall but they work well. The markings on the chest and the white stripes do a decent job of breaking up the design and keep it from looking too simple. The belts look pretty good. That white gloves and boots work well on Akaranger and Momoranger and compliment their main colors really well. The black ones on Midoranger, Kiranger, and Aoranger work well with their colors as well. The capes are a really nice touch and we need more of those in the franchise. I could picture the suits without them but capes in general on superhero outfits add extra flourishes with how they react to movements so I'm glad they're there.

JAKQ Dengekitai:

These suits look pretty good. The visors help show off the card motif. The white on the four suits works well with their colors. The gloves matching their main colors is a nice touch and they help balance out the white on the helmets in Dia Jack, Clover King, and Heart Queen's cases. The sash going down the front helps break up what would be a simple design. The belts look pretty cool. Big One's suit is pretty good too. The red, blue, green, and yellow going down the helmet, wrapping around the arms and legs, and going down the chest adds a nice bit of color diversity to the suit. It also helps break up all the white which was kinda needed imo. The red belt buckle looks cool. Plus all 5 suits have capes and capes will never not be cool to me. Like with Gorenger, I can picture the suits without them but they're a good add-on that adds more style to their movements.

Battle Fever J:

These helmets look fantastic and because of the way they're molded they look more like western superhero masks and cowls as opposed to simply being helmets. The white on Battle Japan, Battle France, and Miss America works well with their colors. I particularly love the gymnast look Miss America has and how her helmet has sculpted hair. The green on Battle Kenya really compliments the black on the suit and the yellow on his helmet and his emblem works well with his red eyes. The black on Battle Cossack really compliments the orange and the black highlights on the helmet work well with the red eyes. The scarves on each suit really completes their design and brings everything together. Overall these are my favorite suits from this decade and probably some of the best suits the franchise has ever used.

If I had to pick a phrase that described Gorenger and JAKQ's designs overall, it'd be simple yet effective. If there is one big takeaway I have from Gorenger and JAKQ's designs, its that we need more capes in Sentai. Battle Fever J is the clear standout of this decade and like capes, scarves need to make a comeback in the franchise. The 70's are a good start for the franchise as far as designs go. Next up I will probably cover the 80's tho I make no promises on when that will come out.

My Thoughts On Every Pokemon Generation So Far

What can I say to start off other than...its Pokemon? Its something that doesn't need an intro since its so big in the mainstream and in nerd circles. Its a pop culture juggernaut at this point. I've been thinking about all the pokemon games I've played over the years so I thought "Hey, why not give my thoughts on each gen?". So enough stalling, lets get down to business.

Gen 1:

I get this game has a lot of nostalgia value for people and its a really fun game. However, it is also a really broken game. Psychic types are outright broken in these games because bug and ghost are practically useless against them despite being its weaknesses. You're in a for a rough time unless you one-shot them. Even Lance's Dragonites are easier to beat than Sabrina's gym for me. Its broken-ness is understandable since its literally the base for the rest of the franchise. There unfortunately isn't much I can say for the story as its just the player taking on Team Rocket. That being said, its probably my least favorite Gen in the franchise if only for the fact that its the starting point for everything. I much preferred the remakes to the originals.

Gen 2:

The 2nd games in the franchise. This Gen had a lot of improvements over Gen 1. Its better balanced and just as fun. It introduced held items, male/female pokemon, and breeding. It also introduced steel types and a type specifically created to take down psychic types: Dark. This Gen also brought back Team Rocket for the player to finish off. The only frustrating gym in this game is Whitney's. I don't need to say why because its become a meme in the fandom. This was actually the first Gen I played since I got Gold version and Blue version at the same time. Sadly I have never had the chance to play Crystal so I have no idea what thats like. Overall, its a fun gen that built up on what Gen 1 started.

Gen 3:

I have sadly not played Emerald so I'll just be commenting on Ruby and Sapphire. This is honestly were I think the games hit their stride as they add so many things to the franchise. The story is great and there is so much to do. I maxed out my playtime in these games. The contests are by far my fav side-content in the entire franchise. So many new pokemon were added in this Gen and all of them were pretty fun to use. I love Team Aqua and Magma simply because they didn't want to take over the world or just make money. They wanted to improve the world for pokemon and it lead to some really dangerous consequences. Its a nice lesson about not considering the consequences of what you're doing. With that being said, I do find the lore around Kyogre and Groudon kind of lacking. For the most part we just hear a bit about their battle and thats all.

Gen 4:

This Gen is pretty fun. I like the lore and world building as well as the duality of Time and Space between the main legendaries. Cyrus' plan is pretty good especially when you consider that in Diamond and Pearl, he technically wins. The dude actually creates his own universe. The underground is pretty fun and its a really good piece of side content. Platinum is the more complete version that throws Giratina into the mix while expanding the lore of Sinnoh. Platinum is a nice challenge. It was so difficult that on my first two play-throughs, I couldn't get past the bug Elite's Yanmega even with level and type advantage. This thing has haunted my dreams for years. I managed to beat it on my 3rd play-through. However, my main gripe with Gen 4 overall is the Contests. They're way too complicated so I never bothered doing them much. This Gen is also the biggest offender for making you have to use HMs just to get around.

Gen 5:

Gen 5 was ok. The story is fine and I like the variety of Unova's pokemon. The world building with the legendaries was neat and its got some neat lore. I like N as a villain because he legitimately just wants to help pokemon and he is genuinely upset when he finds out the true villain of the game was using him. This Gen was the first to let you fight the Elite 4 in any order you wanted. Honestly, I loved it because it allowed me to test each of them out to make sure I could beat them. If I had a little too much trouble, I'd reset and try taking on a different member. Black and White 2 picks up where the first games left off. It was great to see what the rivals and N were up to. The side-content in all 4 games is ok though I still have not been able to work out what the musicals even do.

Gen 6:

I'm going to be honest, this is my least favorite Gen in the franchise. Sure its a nice graphics upgrade and it made EV training incredibly easy so there are a few pluses to the game. Character customization was also a really good idea. What costs it points with me is simply this: Once you beat the League, there is virtually nothing to do outside the Looker missions. I'm not a competitive player so I really don't care for Super Training. There also aren't many new pokemon so I tended to just use the older ones alongside my Delphox because that was what I was familiar with. Adding fairy types as potential dragon killers was a nice idea. However, thats kind of undercut by the fact that the game introduced a Poison/Dragon type at the same time. That made it the go-to for killing fairy types. The game in general feels unfinished and stripped down. It never expands on the lore after the League outside of fighting the giant guy thats implied to be the ancient king of Kalos.

Gen 7:

This Gen is a major step up from Gen 6. I played Sun and Ultra Sun so if there are any major differences between those and Moon/Ultra Moon, I wouldn't know. I love how Alola as a whole feels. Its the most alive any pokemon game so far has felt. The trials while annoying to some are a nice change of pace for me even if some of the totem pokemon are a pain. The thing I appreciate the most about Gen 7 however, is one simple thing: They finally removed the need for HMs. You have no idea how happy that made me. I was able to build the exact team I wanted and use it throughout the entire story. Admittedly, I do feel a a bit sad since no new pokemon appear Post-League so its kinda lacking in post game content. Its not as lacking as Gen 6 because what post game content thats there is fun. Its great that we get to fight the leaders of older teams.

So...what will Gen 8 hold? Who knows. All I know is I'm pretty excited for it. If I had to comment on the whole thing about most of the roster being cut...meh. I don't really care that most of the mons aren't available. I've treated just about every Gen as a fresh start for the franchise anyway. I'm more concerned what the story and side-content will be. I've tried to keep from seeing a lot of the news so I can go in blind but what I have heard about it has me pretty interested. Also, I will probably cover the remakes at some point in the future.