A lot of American and European tropers find themselves invoking What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? when watching Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. For a general-audience series, Shinkenger doesn't shy away from implied violence, and even death, of civilians by Gedoushu; also, the references to Japanese Myth invoked can seem as rather dark for a kids show. Often results in some Nightmare Fuel - oh, and some of it's high octane.
- Ayakashi attacks can also have varying amounts: Instead of killing the victims outright, they let them suffer for as long as possible, or until the Shinkengers take them down. Considering most of their methods are, in principal, fantasized versions of torture and psychological attacks possible in real life... makes things actually much creepier.
- One of the cruellest cases has to be Namiayashi from Act 4. Appearing in the mortal realm before a boy named Ryota, he accomplish his goal by tricking the boy into breaking his leg so he won't be able to play baseball any more with a false promise of bringing his dead grandfather back to life. If that isn't bad enough, it's implied that he gets sexually turned on by causing misery.
- Yamiororo from Act 7 is a barnacle-like Ayakashi that is born in the depths of the Sanzu River, able to breathe out a poison that painfully kills the victim in a few days. Not to mention there was apparently another monster like him in the past and he's trying to do as much damage as his predecessor.
- Act 19 gives us Oinogare, pictured above. He abducts 30 schoolgirls and tries to sacrifice them, with Shitari overseeing the plan.
- Act 21. The monster of the week's ability: regurgitating eggs on people that cause them to rampage to no end whatsoever! This gets worse when you see that one of those people attacked Chiaki and her father.
- At the end of Act 23, Doukoku takes Gozunagumo back into the Rokumon Junk as punishment for acting out alone. His method of punishment? He shocks him with a lot of his own power to mutate him into his own powerful servant! The extent of his power even forces Giant Nanashi and Giant Nosakamata to erupt from the crevices of the Sanzu coastline! Even Shitari is puzzled, and he's the Evil Genius second-in-command.
Shitari: Is this... even the Onosakamata are...? note
- Act 27. Just... ask Genta. He got his soul transferred to a sushi and was about to get eaten by a cat, only to be saved in the nick of the time. The experience traumatized him so bad, he couldn't transform into Shinken Gold because the sushi phone reminds him of the cat; he even had trouble just touching the phone. It would have been a really serious affair, if the phobia wasn't fixed in a few seconds.
- One of the victims had a similar experience in that Act. Her soul was swapped into an empty soda can and nearly saw herself get crushed had Chiaki and Kotoha not forced the Ayakashi to release all the souls he transferred.
- In Act 34, the Nanashi attack an elementary school, kidnap the kids that study there, and then they are tricked into piling rocks under the promise that, if the pile is high enough, the children will be allowed to see their parents again. As if that wasn't enough, Akumaro puts some Nanashi there with the little kiddies just to knock their rock piles down over and over again (if you read it all attentively, you'll see that this last part doesn't fall under Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking). Yep, Akumaro's that brand of dick.
- It gets "better" - the scene is a re-enactment of the afterlife in Japanese folklore. Specifically, the punishment given to stillborn children in purgatory. And you thought it couldn't get worse.
- Just narrowly averted in Act 38: When the newly trained Nanashi Rifle Squad appeared in the human world, the Ayakashi in charge decided to try target practice on "moving targets". Good thing the Shinkengers arrived in the nick of time.
- The Ayakashi in Act 41 has the ability to cause unsatiable hunger or thirst to anyone covered in his black sand. It doesn't reach the point of I'm a Humanitarian with the exception of Genta trying to eat DaiGoyo's head.note And yet, while most of the victims are eating normal food, it's so painful to watch the victims go insane for food and water, and those unlucky enough to find any look like they're about to die. Mako's desperate screams for water as if she was on the verge of death really didn't help... Oh, and the more you eat/drink, the more you hunger/thirst.
- In Act 42, the Ayakashi has the ability to unleash and a swarm of bugs that fly into the victim's mouth and cause extreme pain. And most of these instances are apparently leading up to Hell on Earth.
- And who do these Ayakashi work for? Akumaro. This guy is a Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant!
- The Sake Dokoku's been chugging down like water is made from/of humans' fear and despairnote . So, he's trying to torment all those people basically just to keep his tank full and gain some real estate. What a nice guy.
- Hell, the number of cuts and bruises the Shinkengers can get in a normal fight serve as constant reminders of one meaning of Shinken; the fight scenes are goddamn serious.
- Act 42 is the embodiment of this. The fact that Akumaro wants to create Hell on Earth already qualifies, but doing so involves destroying both the human world and the Sanzu River making him an Omnicidal Maniac. And let's not forget that Akumaro reveals that Juzo's Uramasa was created out of the corpses of his own family!
- Juzo's freaking eyes when he reveals he already knows what Uramasa is, and doesn't care.
- One look
at a Brainwashed and Crazy Takeru Shiba during the first minute of this Goseiger vs. Shinkenger movie clip and you'll know why so many Japanese kids freaked out in the theaters.
