Super Sentai

Can anyone give a definitive reason why none of the original Sentai series have managed to get an official English-language release, as opposed to just being adapted into Power Rangers? I am of the understanding that Toei simply think there's not enough demand, in spite of whatever interest Western fans might have about the show behind the Power Rangers franchise. After all nostalgia for Voltron managed to get Go Lion released in the States, but then of course that's anime, not live-action, so might not work.

(Of course for those who live in France and/or can understand French can still get Bioman on DVD- an Amazon search also shows up something called X-Or which appears to be an adaptation of some of the Metal Heroes series? But sadly my French is very poor...)

Saban probably doesn't want Power Rangers to have to compete with... itself.

They have. Just prior to the Power Rangers Era.

Fiveman, Bioman & Flashman were translated into english for asian Markets.

Gorenger, J.A.K.Q. and Battle Fever J were translated into english for the USA long before Power Rangers

edited 5th Jun '14 7:57:53 AM by CobraPrime

Actually, Saban has no say in what happens with Super Sentai. It's all on Toei, and Toei hasn't made an official release as they feel there's "little interest"

I know Crunchyroll tried to do simulcasts for both Sentai and Kamen Rider, but it ended up being too expensive (actor fees).

edited 5th Jun '14 9:53:00 AM by BatDan

Don't see that would necessarily follow- they might complement rather than compete. Considering all 15 Sentai series from Gorenger to Jetman have never been adapted into Power Rangers, there's no equivalent for them to compete with; moreover what you say might be true for some of the more recent series (at least one of which I undestand mostly folows the plot of the original Sentai show) but perhaps it could work for the series adapted into the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers- Zyuranger, Dairanger etc. where they mostly took action footage and some of the villains and mashed it together into a completely new story.

You could keep Power Rangers and aim it at the kid audience as it is now, and maybe translate say Zyuranger for the more adult fanbase, keeping in all the stuff that Western censors wouldn't consider kid-friendly (like character deaths), and might still retain some nostalgia for the show they grew up with yet want to find out where it came from. Mind you you'll probably get some people claiming "you ruined my childhood forever!" when they find out their favourite show was really recycled from a totally different Japanese original...

Well, those are certainly exceptions to the rule but those were still only limited releases which apart from Keep Circulating the Tapes territory won't be available anymore.

edited 5th Jun '14 10:08:13 AM by TheLyniezian

Saban might have a say depending on what the exact terms of their respective contracts are. There most likely is a clause limiting Toei's distribution abilities on Saban's turf, as this is pretty much the norm when licensing content.

A big appeal (financially) in Power Rangers is the merchandising money via Bandai. The problem a company might have with bringing those series over is that (outside of the occasional SH Figurearts) merchandise for them is no longer in production.

edited 5th Jun '14 10:26:30 AM by CobraPrime

Zyuranger is barely darker than most seasons of Power Rangers, though. It's darker than Mighty Morphin, but Time Force or RPM are way darker and more serious. Zyuranger has a serious case of "Kid of the Week", and those series really grate on my nerves. There's only so many times I can stand some bad child actor constantly whining out "Onee-chan" every other second while villains that should be a lot more competent can't seem to even outrun them.

Zyuranger's actually a pretty fun season all things considered, though. Plus, it does have one clear advantage over MMPR: It's not AS Totally Radical unless you're Japanese, because the cast are all a bunch of fish out of water.

MMPR has one advantage over Zyuranger as well: Fewer annoying kids. Every scheme Bandora hatches involves targeting a child because of how much she hates them. Unfortunately, this almost always means 12 minutes of "Onee-CHAN!" before the Zyurangers come to fight it. Power Rangers usually retooled those monsters to directly target the Rangers as often as they did kids.

It's always "ONEE-CHAN" and "TASUKETE" (Help) over and over again. That was a pretty big reason I rank Zyuranger low on the Sentai I've seen. That and the Zyurangers really have no personalities (except Burai).

I know other seasons have kids, but not in the abundance Zyuranger had them.

I know what you mean. Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy and Kimberly may have had really broad, undefined personalities, but at least they HAD a personality. Except for Trini.

Zed is fabulous.

True dat. I don't think I appreciated him back in the day.

Anyway, just started watching Choujin Sentai Jetman on a lark.

Only seen the first ep, but that's some pretty shitty luck for the bad guys to attack you just seconds after you started your super soldier program. And that monster killed two kids right off the bat. What a dick.

edited 21st Sep '14 4:16:09 PM by HandsomeRob

More watching of Jetman.

Wow, some of the monsters are stupid looking, but their powers can be pretty horrifying. House Dimension and Bus Dimension in particular, since people are inside them and all that.

Also, Jet Icarus is now up there as a favourite for Zord designs (yeah, I know, Sentai doesn't use that term, but I caught to call it something) right after Daizyujin.

Anybody know if Marvel still has ownership over Battle Fever J and Denziman?

I just caught the infamous episode 18 of Jetman....

Holy fuck. Radiguet is a fucker.

And that thing with the crystals was pretty horrific. I can't believe that people lived long enough to become large crystals. The pain alone should have been killing them

Ok, ToQ 31 shows that the Rainbow line actually has a replacement bus service. That is the most wonderfully absurd thing.

Alas, the monsters destroy it.

edited 9th Oct '14 8:31:27 AM by TenebrousGaze

So, while I haven't been watching the show regularly, I have been keeping some track of events, and I just became aware of the fact that the entire team are still Children, who received a Plot-Relevant Age-Up at the beginning of the series.

So I guess they collectively win the award for Youngest Ranger team ever, since they technically aren't even old enough to be in junior high.

I'm wondering how things will go? They have to come back and team up with the Ninningers, and they will probably cameo in the Spring Kamen Rider Drive movie as well (since the previous team always cameos), but I don't believe the series will end with them losing their childhoods.

The way it's looking is that they'll probably stay in adult bodies. The president of the Rainbow Line expresses concern over this, saying they've come too far from being children and they all accepted this, so it's likely that they will just come to terms with it.

They might return to being kids though. I guess that does seem like an easier happy ending and Toq Ger, despite getting dark at times, is optimistic at heart.

edited 19th Jan '15 9:00:32 AM by TenebrousGaze

They can always look at the whatever-events-will-be happening and IMAGINATION themselves into adult bodies to fight.

edited 19th Jan '15 10:04:22 AM by Adannor

Well this has them in child bodies during the crossover so take that as you will.

Oh man.

I totally want Kouta and Mai (whatever they are doing post Movie Wars Full Throttle) to see that.

edited 19th Jan '15 4:38:44 PM by HandsomeRob

Huh, that was pretty funny when someone mentioned Super Sentai vs Power Rangers... well because there is a fanfic about it by a certain Sean Akizuki. I dunno if the Fanfic sub-board allows such topic dedicated for that fic alone so I might as well drop it here. Here's the story.

Warning: It is... so mind-numbingly INSANE. Giant Snark Bait.

Read how someone liveblogs it.

And someone is doing a reading on it.

Have fun...

No Toq Ger yesterday, as it was pre-empted for breaking news. It might be on some time during the week but that still means subs will be even later than usual.

Looking at Ninninger, you know, I have a gut feeling that Kasumi might end up having similar personality with Sakura. Dunno, maybe her face conveys something of the serious type. But then again, the 'cool' archetype seems to be already taken by Yakumo.

edited 2nd Feb '15 8:09:21 AM by ChrisX