Trivia / Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

• Bonus Episode: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Special DVD: The Light Samurai's Surprise Transformation was released with an issue of TV Magazine.
• Enforced Method Acting: Takeru's actor, Tori Matsuzaka, has stated that he was the only one of the main cast told beforehand that Takeru is a Body Double for Kaoru in order to achieve realistic reactions from the others when The Reveal was filmed. Infact, the twist had been planned from the beginning, and both Matsuzaka and Gorou Ibuki (Jii) were informed by the filming of Act 36-37, whilst the other Shinkengers only found out when they read the script for Act 44. Runa Natsui (Kaoru) only found out after passing her audition.
• Fake Nationality: While Richard Brown was implied to be American, his actor, John Kaminari, is actually Italian and can speak Japanese fairly well. His strange accent was meant to make him sound like a strange foreigner. As well, the fact he's humble, earnest, perfectly willing and eager to adapt to another country's customs and ideals, and obsessed with learning the path of the samurai means he can't easily be slotted as one of the two Eaglelander base types; he's 100% Promoted Fanboy who just happens to be from elsewhere.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "ShinkenZengar". That should tell you a lot about Takeru.
  • "Neko Tono" ^note Lord Kitty
  • Ryunosuke is "Marijuana Man": for people who don't initially recognize the Kanji for water and confuse his visor for that of a cannabis leaf.
    • "Aibaranger", due to the popularity of his actor, Aiba Hiroki.
• Names The Same: Takeru shares his name with another character who's - Surprise! - also a Super Sentai Red Ranger, Red Mask.
  • It's a bit of a stretch, but there's been two characters from Kamen Rider named Kaoru. Both men. And certified badasses.
  • For all we know, Hikoma could he be related to the man who walks the path of Heaven (Tendou's real family name was Kusakabe, while his current name comes from his grandmother adopting him).
  • Apparently Mako's stuck with the role of ShinkenPink because the only other Shiraishi descendant is busy co-hosting Lucky Channel.
    • Her family name also belonged to the first Battle Cossack. Thank God she survived her series, unlike Kensaku.
    • Even better, an actual Shiraishi Mako was a member of Onyanko Club (which may sound familiar to viewers of Kamen Rider Kiva)
    • Kobayashi's next series for Toei after Shinkenger was Kamen Rider OOO, which features a main character called Shiraishi Chiyoko ... any relation?
• No Export for You: The series wasn't dubbed in Korea because of its heavy Japanese themes. A dub of Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger was broadcast instead.
  • And yet Kamen Rider Decade was dubbed there... complete with Shinkenger crossover, where they're referred to as Power Rangers Blade Force. Which makes it an example of Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.".
  • Averted in America, where Power Rangers RPM, based on Shinkenger's predecessor Engine Sentai Go-onger, was supposed to be the last series - until Saban bought the PR franchise back from Disney and began work on adapting Shinkenger.
• Role Reprise: Hironori Miyata once again reprises his role as the narrator, having previously narrated Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger seven years earlier.
• Star-Making Role: This is the series that boosted Tori Matsuzaka's popularity.
• The Wiki Rule: Covered as part of RangerWiki, and as an individual series on the Shinkenger Wiki.
• What Could Have Been
  • Initially, Blue and Pink were to have the "Heaven" and "Water" kanji symbols respectively. This was switched to balance their Origami, Blue being a Dragon and Pink being a Sea Turtle.
  • Before settling on "Wood", Shinken Green's kanji was to be "Mountain" (山).
  • The kanji for "Light" was considered for one of the original five Shinkengers before being assigned to Shinken Gold.
  • In addition, it was considered to have Shinken Gold be a ninja, however, writer Yasuko Kobayashi shown reluctance to this idea and opted to have Gold be distinguished by a sushi motif instead. Had the ninja concept stuck, it would have made for an Ironic Echo of Power Rangers Ninja Storm (Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger), which translated Sixth Ranger Shurikenger into the Green Samurai Ranger.
  • Ryota Ozawa auditioned for the role of Shinken Red; he would be cast as Gokai Red two years later. Yui Koike also auditioned for Shinkenger and would later be cast as Gokai Pink.
  • It was considered to have Tori Matsuzaka play a second role, potentially another Shinken Red. Kobayashi dropped this, deeming it too similar to Masaru Nagai playing both Tatsuya Asami and Captain Ryuya (Time Red) in Mirai Sentai Timeranger.
  • Juzo Fuwa was not initially planned to have a human form until it was deemed appropriate to cast a face actor for Shinken Red's rival swordsman.
  • For the Final Battle with Dokoku Chimatsuri, it was suggested that, being a Sentai Big Bad, he should change his form for the Behemoth Battle. However, this was not followed through as director Shojiro Nakazawa was satisfied with his default appearance.

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